Revenant
by YamiPaladinofChaos
Summary: Revenge is like a ghost. It takes over every man it touches. Its thirst cannot be quenched, until the last man standing has fallen. Post R2, no pairings.
1. Part I: God's In His Heaven

On the table there is a chessboard in the midst of play.

There is no dust that gathers on it, indicating a sense of timelessness, that this game has been forever frozen in this singular moment, its combatants locked forever in an unending, ceaseless struggle.

But this is but an illusion, because nothing ever stays the same, not even if it lives through eternity.

Slowly, piano thin, snow white fingers wrap around a single white bishop, the lone one left on the board, placing it within striking range of the black knight.

"So it's come to this at last," she murmured softly, sounding oddly sad. Her eyes were distant, and outside, an orange-purple sky of twilight darkened, a sun going down in the sky, leaving everything dark and cold.

"The embers of hatred can spark the fires of war…" her lips curled into a sardonic smile. "But I guess this is what you wanted, eh Lelouch?"

C.C. chuckled morbidly, and turned away.

"I guess it's time to go to work."

**Revenant**

Part I: God's In His Heaven

"_Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people."_  
-Jawaharal Nehru

His hands were shaking, his forehead gleaming with hints of sweat, his skin pale as death, eyes wide and darting from side to side- classic signs of stress due to severe trauma. Even across this long meeting table, it was obvious that this man had gone through much.

"Now then, private Shigeru, could you please tell us about yourself?"

No response.

"Private Shigeru? Your name and identification number, please."

The man jerked a little, finally registering his name as he struggled to regain his senses. With a shaky nod, he began to speak.

"My name is Shigeru Daisukenojo, Private Second Class of the Third Division of the Black Knights, Zeta Company, Service Number SRR-117. I was assigned to the Shiroda forward operations base in Kyushu about six months ago as a communications specialist, under the command of Second Lieutenant Hirokawa Miyazaki."

His response was static and flat, practiced ease helping him keep his voice steady as he spoke.

"Thank you, private, that will be sufficient. Now, about the incident…"

His eyes darted up, and clear panic flashed in his eyes before he managed to catch himself, nodding shakily.

"Well… a few days ago, our drill instructor, this guy from Britannia, Sergeant Winchester, just… snapped. Started shooting up the place. He took out our communications array and killed Captain Mishizawa before Aoba managed to knock him out. When he woke up, he seemed normal, didn't even remember what he'd done… but when our temporary commander, the XO, Lieutenant Sakaki, started interrogating him, the Sergeant went nuts again and killed him with his bare hands. He broke my friend Kurama's wrist when he tried to stop him… he was like an animal."

"You mean to say he displayed… unusual levels of strength?"

"Sort of. I mean, I'd seen guys like this before, guys who fight until they've totally bled out, who take shots but still keep coming… but Sergeant Winchester wasn't really that type. He was always kind of… I dunno. Cool-headed, I guess?"

"So his personality was… altered?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"What happened next?"

"Well… we shot Sergeant Winchester to stop him, but we were too late. The Lieutenant was already dead. And a couple hours later, this other guy, Watanuki… he goes crazy and blows up the Knightmare hangar with himself and three other guys inside. Everyone was so freaked we didn't sleep. Without our Knightmares, our only options were repairing the array that the Sergeant destroyed, or wait for the Knightmares on patrol to come back.

"But the next day, one of the guys who had been out on patrol, another guy from Brittania, Gray, he charges the mess hall in his Knightmare and practically takes out the regiment."

"What about the others who were on patrol with him?"

"We patrolled in teams of two. His partner was Corporal Moriyama… we never found him. I think Gray killed him before returning to base… probably the others who were on patrol too, considering they never made it back either."

"What happened after that?" hands folded, his interrogator peered forward.

"After that… things went crazy. A bunch of the other Brittanian guys at the base went nuts and attacked us. We fought 'em off… and since it was all Brittanian guys who went nuts, we locked the rest of them all up as a precaution. Everything seemed okay, but then one of the other Japanese guys, Yuuji, kills a bunch of them, and then the other Brits kill him and start attacking us. By the end, everyone was killing everyone… no distinction at all."

"How long did all of this take place?"

"The Sergeant snapped… four days ago, I think? I was in that sewer for so long…"

"And when did the last incident you can recall take place?"

"Yesterday… I think. I made a break for it with one of the broken distress beacons from a Knightmare, hoping I could get word out. Hid in the sewers. I think some guys were still alive before I got the distress beacon working, but…"

"I see. Did the people who… snapped, have any common symptoms, or share any experience before they began attacking?"

"No… I'm sorry, I can't remember anything."

"I see. This must have been very traumatizing for you, private. Please, follow these men and return to your temporary quarters. We will have you out of here as soon as possible."

Private Shigeru looked up at him, as though terrified, but swallowed and nodded, following the ornately dressed, masked guards out of the room.

It was a testament to the man's post traumatic stress disorder that he never once asked exactly who the people interrogating him actually were... or why they never showed him any identification.

As he hit a button on the tape recorder to end the session, he watched the man go for a while, feeling the ever so slight amount of guilt for lying to the man, if only indirectly.

As soon as possible… which likely meant never.

But it was better than the alternative.

A form flickered out of the shadows of the meeting room, innocuously dressed in a conservative, old fashioned maid outfit, highly out of place in the blank, smooth gray of the concrete walls, the halogen lights and the lacquered meeting table.

"What do you think, Sayoko-san?" he asked, still staring at the doorway as he handed her the recorder.

"It appears Lelouch-sama's fear has been realized," Sayoko answered softly, looking regretful as she pocketed the recorder. "We had suspected as much, following a trail of incidents leading to this point, but… this is the first real confirmation we've had that what he had warned us about had come to pass."

"Indeed." His tone was grim. "I had hoped, since it has been quite some time since his Majesty's left us, that…"

His voice fell away, and there was a brief moment of terse silence, like mourning at a grave.

"Anyways," he continued sharply, as if to rid himself of the silence that had oppressed them, "Our next step should be to try to gauge its path. We must move quickly, because now that its presence has been revealed, our window of opportunity to take care of this incident discretely has been greatly reduced."

"Do you think it's acting randomly? Striking anything in sight?" Sayoko asked, gazing out towards the doorway they had escorted Private Shigeru through, wondering at what horrors the poor man had seen. "Or is it acting with a purpose?"

"I've no doubt it has a purpose," the man replied tersely, hands clenching. "It destroyed that base when it could just have easily have slipped on by… almost as if it was demonstrating its power."

"It wants us to know it exists?" she raised an eyebrow critically.

"Perhaps…" he murmured, folding his hands and resting his chin atop them. "Or perhaps it wants something else. There's something about this incident…"

"Something else?"

He shook his head, as if to clear some kind of illusion. "It's too early to tell, either way. We need more information."

"Should we contact him?" she questioned, shifting her gaze towards him.

"Our agency was formed specifically to handle these matters, to work in the shadows of this world," he said, sighing, "I would like to deal with this under the table, so to speak."

He smiled wryly. "This is the final order we were given, after all."

Silence, heavy with pondering, worrying, and not a little bit of plain frustration.

"Are you going to be much longer?" came a toneless, calm, female voice, from just outside the door.

"We're just finishing up, Anya-kun," Sayoko replied warmly. "Come on in."

The former Knight of Six, Anya Earlstreim, glided into the room, barely sparing any of it a glance. She had grown taller since the end of the war, into a young woman, though she remained reserved and rarely put her emotions into her voice when speaking.

"You've grown since I last saw you, Anya-kun," Sayoko complimented gently, inclining her head to acknowledge her presence.

The younger woman's lips stretched upwards in the barest hint of a smile, before turning serious once again.

"Do you really think Lelouch was right?" Anya questioned, fixing her gaze upon the male occupant of the room. "Is it really…"

"Yes, there are no doubts," Jeremiah Gottwald, former Knight of Emperor Lelouch Vi Brittania, responded gravely, folding his hands.

"Our enemy possesses a Geass."

00000

"What do you mean there were no survivors from the Kyuushu base?" Gino Weinberg scowled deeply, slamming his fist down on the table, scaring the ever living out of the unfortunate messenger.

"Calm down Gino," Kouzuki Kallen interrupted, placing a restraining hand on his shoulder. She stood next to him, crisp in her black uniform which looked vaguely similar to the original Black Knights uniform (some claimed that the Japanese Prime Minister had some sentimentality towards it- those who were really in the know understood it was actually the Empress of Neo-Brittania who had them made into the official uniform despite protests). He glanced back at her, obviously still angry, but checked himself, sitting back into his chair.

The messenger wiped his forehead, obviously still uncomfortable. "Well… all our search parties have reported no survivors, sir. We've done two thorough sweeps of the area- as you ordered- but we've still found no one to tell us what happened there."

Gino gritted his teeth. "Then who the hell activated that distress beacon?" he questioned irritably, glancing at the reports on the table. "This… Private Shigeru sent us a transmission not even six hours before we arrived, and he was clearly alive before then."

"I'm sorry sir. We haven't found anything. Not even a body."

"Well then we can't say for certain there were no survivors then, can we?" the former Knight of Three growled, but, luckily for the man, Kallen stepped in, smoothly interrupting, "Thank you. Please, continue with your search."

Grateful for the intervention, the man nearly bowled himself over saluting, and beat a hasty retreat from the room.

"That's not like you," Kallen noted with a hint of teasing, "You're supposed to be the good cop, remember?"

Gino scoffed, anger dying out like a mayfly, and grinned back. "Nah, you're too pretty to be bad," he replied, doing his best to sound suave.

Rolling her eyes, the redhead socked him on the shoulder. "Get serious," she chided, before her expression settled into a more serious look. "What do you make of all that?"

"Someone got there before us. Somebody picked up the signal and nabbed the only survivor, and then disappeared before we arrived. I don't know why, but somebody doesn't want us knowing what happened at Kyuushu," Gino murmured quietly, eyes flat and hard, that of the soldier he was beneath his goofy, carefree exterior, and Kallen was reminded yet again that the young man sitting next to her was a professional soldier, a difference in training that was subtle but forever present.

"Who could possibly have beaten us there?" she asked, eyebrows furrowing. They were the Black Knights, the official peacekeeping force of Neo-Brittania, basically the only legitimate army still existing in the world today. They had access to every resource the world had, and had mobilized with the utmost speed when the signal had come in. No other organization known had the same capability.

Gino blew out a low, annoyed breath, leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms behind his head. "Beats me," he muttered, eyes darkening. "But it really bugs me."

"Must be serious, if you're so wound up about it, Weinberg-san."

Both occupants of the room jerked to attention at the newcomer who had entered the office, and Gino nearly toppled out of his chair.

"Prime Minister!" he blinked, shaking his head. "Don't do that!"

Kallen dipped her head in a respectful nod and saluted, before breaking out into a warm smile. "I didn't know you were here already, Ougi-san," she said, never quite managing to break the old habit of taking –san onto his name.

Prime Minister Kaname Ougi, one of the most powerful men in the world and former second (and later full) commander of the Black Knights gave them both a cordial smile.

"At ease," he said unnecessarily, giving them a shallow nod, before his expression settled into a more business-like look. "I was visiting the Empress at New Pendragon, and flew in from the capitol as soon as we heard the news. The Empress wants to know the names of the families of the soldiers to express her personal condolences."

It sounded like standard bureaucratic platitudes, but few in the world doubted the sincerity of their Empress.

"I'll have it for the little Empress by the end of the day," Gino replied, nodding his head. Kallen winced at the usage of the nickname, but no one had managed to break him of the habit, and the Empress herself never seemed to mind.

"You have the report, Ougi-san," Kallen stepped in, giving him a quizzical look. "There was no need to come all the way here yourself so quickly."

"Everyone is concerned, Kallen. Right now the Empress is in a meeting determining our official response to this incident," the Prime Minister responded quietly. "That was a fully equipped, fully manned military base that was taken out, without word getting out until it was too late, and within the span of a few days, it seems. There's no force left in the world that should have that kind of ability."

Kallen and Gino both nodded in agreement.

"Do you think it was anti-government insurgents?" Kallen asked. There were groups that opposed the peace and rule of Neo-Brittania, as there always would be, but they had never attempted such brazen tactics before.

"No, they don't have that kind of power. The most they've ever been shown to use are the old Sutherlands and, only once or twice have they managed to acquire the use of a Vincent," Gino added in, shaking his head. "Some of them are old soldiers, leftovers of the EU who refused to join and even the occasional holdout from the old Brittania, but the majority of them don't have any kind of formal training, just people who don't trust the new government or who just hate us for whatever reason. And they've never managed to pull off an operation like this."

"So what are we dealing with then?" Kallen questioned softly.

A pensive silence was the only answer they had.

00000

"So many lives lost…" her voice was soft and filled with fresh grief, as though she had personally known those men who had lost their lives. Her eyes welled up, but she dared not cry, no matter how much she wished to.

"It's okay," came a comforting voice and a warm hand on her shoulder. "You can cry if you want, Nunnally-san."

Empress Nunnally Lamperouge shook her head with a smile. "No, I shouldn't. The tears won't help the widows and orphans, so I won't waste time now crying for them. When I'm sure this matter is closed, then I will cry, Kaguya-san."

Sumeragi Kaguya, Chairwoman of the United Nations Council, the ruling power beneath the Empress, consisting of representatives of every country contained within the Empire, smiled back. "I guess that'll have to do," she muttered good naturedly, sighing.

"I apologize for having to bring this to your attention yet again, your Majesty, Madam Chairwoman," Schneizel El Brittania (still under the control of his younger brother's Geass) said respectfully, bowing his head. He acted as a personal assistant to the Empress, handling a great deal of the management aspects and administrative functions she needed organized. "I realize how troubling this news must be for you, and I apologize for having to hold a meeting regarding this issue."

"No, Schneizel-niisama," Nunnally replied, shaking her head. "Thank you. There's no need to consider my feelings right now. Please, continue."

Schneizel nodded. "Understood. What we need to discuss now are the official responses from the various members of the Empire," he said slowly, and gave a glance towards Kaguya, who stepped forward.

"Everyone is concerned," the Chairwoman reported quietly, "And many are offering to help pool resources together to help with the relief effort. There is a great concern about the identity of the attackers, which we have yet to confirm."

"Thank the countries for their assistance, and please give me their names afterward," Nunnally replied. "How is the investigation going?"

"Prime Minister Ougi is currently discussing the investigation with Major Kouzuki and Colonel Weinberg in Tokyo," Schneizel responded crisply. "Our primary concern is verifying the status and whereabouts of the sole confirmed survivor from the base, one Private Shigeru Daisukenojo."

"This is the most troubling part," Kaguya pointed out, biting her lip. "His distress beacon was activated six hours before our arrival, and was the first and only indication that anything had gone wrong with the base. What about the civilians nearby? Surely someone should have noticed?"

"According to the reports, the civilians seemed completely unaware. Of course, once it was pointed out to them, they immediately realized there was something wrong, but up until our arrival it was as if every single person outside the base simply forgot it existed," Schneizel explained tonelessly.

"Forgot it existed…" Nunnally repeated, turning the words over on her tongue. Something about that phrase bothered her.

"There is one more thing I have to note," her older brother continued, sounding hesitant. "This may be nothing but someone's idea of a joke, but…" he presented the two younger women with a sealed brown package. "Outside of this room, only Ougi-san and Xing-ke-san know about this at the current time. Ougi-san has suggested we not allow this to reach even Kouzuki or Weinberg until we have verified the contents."

Kaguya reached over and took the envelope with a look of concern, and opened it between herself and Nunnally, so they could both see it. Within was a somewhat dirtied disc. They both gave the disc a single once over, and then looked back up at the former Brittanian prince.

"This is an electronic report that was supposedly being written by the executive officer of the Kyushu forward base, Lieutenant Sakaki," Schneizel explained, "It is dated a few days before the missing Private Shigeru activated the distress beacon, and describes how the commanding officer of the base, Captain Mishizawa, was murdered by the drill sergeant, a Sergeant Winchester."

"This is information important to the investigation, Schneizel-niisama," Nunnally said sharply, a hint of her old brother in her demeanor. "Why exactly are you keeping it from Kallen-san and Gino-san?"

A part of her suddenly feared that her brother's Geass had somehow worn off on Scheneizel. But the red light of the Geass still rimmed his eyes, making it doubtful.

Still…

Nunnally's hands tightened unconsciously around her wheelchair.

"Ougi-san suggested it, actually," Schneizel replied pleasantly, incapable of being offended due to the Geass, "You see, a year before this incident, Sergeant Winchester, a native of the Brittanian homeland, had been reported and suspended from duty on accusations of racism towards Japanese soldiers under his command. After being forced into mandatory training with Japanese officers, he had been transferred to the Shiroda forward base from our base in Shanghai as a 'last chance', and was warned he would be dishonorably discharged from the military if he showed any further signs of this behavior. He complied and had been on his best behavior since arriving in Kyushu, but still…"

Nunnally's fear about the Geass weakening was replaced with a much more devastating, terrifyingly real fear.

Kaguya's eyes widened at the realization. "If word got out that this incident may have been some kind of internal conflict between Japanese and Brittanian soldiers…"

"The peace we've worked so hard to build could be shattered," Nunnally agreed, eyes closing with dread.

The old hatreds stirred up again. Japan versus Brittania. Memories of oppression and war and massacre would be the embers of an inferno that could burn this gentle, peaceful world they had only just started to build.

And the peace was already so fragile, so delicate. Though people lived together, side by side, united by the memory of a tyrant and the desire to never be ruled like that again, it would not take very much to make them remember that they also once hated one another.

The chance for peace her brother gave up everything for- his good name, the love he had from friends and family, and ultimately his own life, would be wasted.

Things were far worse than she thought.

Kaguya glanced over at her, for once at a loss. "What should we do?" she asked, voice shaking slightly.

There was only one person who could be trusted to handle this.

Nunnally opened her eyes, looking far older than her years.

"Find Zero. We need him. And please arrange a video conference with Kallen-san and Gino-san at the earliest possible time."

Scheneizel nodded. "Xing-ke-san is already on his way to look for Zero and inform him of the situation. And I'll make the arrangements for the meeting at ten A.M. tomorrow."

"Where is he?" Kaguya blinked, suddenly realizing that the usually ever-present Zero had not been here during the whole initial panic over this Kyushu incident. "How could he not be here right now?"

The Empress shook her head. "I don't like to tell him what do, not when he works harder than any of us," she said quietly. "I never see him eat or sleep or rest, but neither do I ever hear him complain. He's always the first one up and usually the last to leave. Sometimes he leaves on his own, and I give him that."

00000

_Here lies Kururugi Suzaku, Knight of Zero. _

The words made him laugh a little, though he only allowed himself a slight curling of his lips. The words were clear, even though there was dirt and garbage and even odd graffiti written upon the tombstone, curses at the second most loathed man in recent history. He found it perversely gratifying, and supposed that it somewhat satisfied his subconscious desire to be hated for all the dirty little things he'd done, starting with murdering his own father.

As soon as the thought entered his head he banished it.

Zero had no father, no mother, no brother or sister, no lover, no country.

He did not feel tired, or weak, did not yearn for the touch of another, did not long to walk beneath the blue sky and feel the wind and sun on his face.

He had no sins to atone for, for he was justice incarnated.

"Ah, there you are."

He resisted the urge to feel surprise. Composure was the essence of Zero.

"Xing-ke-san," he greeted cordially, if distantly, turning to face him. As always, his voice came out distorted by the mask's voice filter, a feature installed by the previous owner to help disguise his identity. It had grown more familiar to him than the true sound of his voice. "What brings you here?"

"I could ask you the same question," Li Xing-ke replied, managing a smile despite his wan, thinning face. His illness had taken a recent turn for the worse and he was only just now returning to his stately duties as Chief Executive Officer of the Black Knights. Still, most of the day to day duties were now run by his subordinates such as Toudou, Kallen, or Gino, to ease the burden on him.

He was glad the mask hid his expression, and not for the first time thought that Lelouch had taken comfort in this any number of times. But then again, Lelouch had many masks, and the ones he wore without a physical aid were always the best.

He wasn't as good, but he'd make do.

"I needed some time alone," he answered honestly, and then regretted it. That wasn't something Zero should say.

If Xing-ke thought the same, he didn't show it. "Of course," he agreed, nodding his head pleasantly. "Every man requires solitude from time to time, to reflect on himself. It is essential to warriors like ourselves."

The man calling himself Zero resisted the urge to balk. He was no warrior. He was just a murderer, plain and simple. He had sold his honor a long time ago.

"Unfortunately, there is an incident of great urgency that requires your attention, Zero-san," the Chinese man continued, bowing his head slightly in apology. "I'm afraid the Empress requires your presence immediately."

He nodded. "Of course. I was just about to leave."

He refused to take a glance back at the grave.

Kururugi Suzaku is dead.

Zero is not.

And therefore, he is not Kururugi Suzaku.

00000

"Thank you for your report, Major Kouzuki," Zero said, inclining his head just enough so the mask would dip and show his acknowledgement.

"No thanks necessary, Zero," Kallen said, feeling awkward as always, even through video conference, when speaking to this strange, enigmatic new Zero. Trying to shake the thoughts out of her head, she continued briskly, "I apologize for Gino-er, Colonel Weinberg's absence. He insisted on going to Kyushu himself yesterday to oversee the physical investigation and is currently out of contact. Ougi-san also expresses his regrets that he cannot attend this meeting, but things in the Tokyo Settlement require his attention in the wake of this incident."

"No need for apologies. Colonel Weinberg's initiative is appreciated," he replied calmly, and glanced towards the Empress and her advisors. "And the Prime Minister has already sent us word he would be unable to join us for this conference, but we have already received his input."

Picking up on the cue, Nunnally spoke up. "Has there been any other suspicious incidents since then, Kallen-san?"

Kallen shook her head. "Nothing, your Majesty."

A cough came from the video screen to Nunnally's left, and Cornelia Li Brittania, Commander of the Black Knight's Police Department, currently stationed in France, spoke up.

"Regarding this, I've had some of my men dig through our old records to find any evidence that this attack was pre-meditated," she added in, and glanced to her right, where, as always, her loyal knight Gilbert Guilford stood. Though blind and restricted to moving with a cane, his aptitude towards administrative duties came in handy in his role as Adjutant to Cornelia.

"On the whole, we have yet to discover any suspicious movements of goods such as armaments, and there seems to be very little disturbances within the greater Kyushu area at any time previous to this incident," he reported.

"So this came out of nowhere?" Toudou Kyoshiro, Chief of Staff of the Black Knights, on video conference from his current station in China, cut in, his mouth set in a stern line. "Impossible."

"I agree," Schneizel nodded, drawing all eyes to him- despite his will being subverted by Geass, his sharp mind, rivaled and surpassed only by his younger brother's, was still just as powerful. "An attack like this, with such power and finesse, could not simply come out of nowhere, as if by magic."

"Perhaps government insurgents?" Guilford suggested hesitantly, though he knew, as did they all, that the resources required for this incident were largely out of reach for such groups.

"At this point, speculation is pointless," Xing-ke interrupted, shaking his head. He coughed lightly, drawing worried looks, but his pallor was unchanged and he continued after another moment, "We need to continue the investigation, but broaden our search."

"Perhaps we should be more creative in our search," Toudou suggested, closing his eyes meditatively. "Cornelia-san, have you looked into the underground markets outside of Japan? Kyushu is quite far from the main Tokyo area and much closer to the greater Asia continent, so an overseas attack might not be out of the question. Suspicious ship manifestos and such could be the clues we need."

"We're currently working on this, but the search area overseas is much broader than it is in Japan," Guilford answered for her. "It will take more time to go over."

Kaguya stepped forward from Nunnally's left, speaking for the first time since the meeting began. "I'll ask the member countries of the United Nations Council for their cooperation in this matter," she offered.

"Very well," Nunnally spoke up, knowing she had to assert her authority over this meeting now and bring it back to focus. "Please do so, Guilford-san, Kaguya-san, and send the reports directly to Zero."

Imperceptibly, Zero straightened, remembering why Nunnally had specifically indicated him.

"As of right now," the Empress continued slowly, trying to put strength into her voice, "I am putting Zero in charge of this investigation. Right after this meeting he will be leaving for Japan to join Kallen-san and Gino-san in the effort to catch the culprits behind this incident."

"Eh? Zero?" Kallen blinked, forgetting protocol for a moment. "Why him?"

_"I need someone I can trust to take care of this," Nunnally said softly, reaching over to clasp his hand. "Kallen-san and Gino-san are good people, but… I need _you_ to do this."_

_ Zero looked down at the hand clasping his and those eyes which were looking past his mask for the man who should have been behind it, and nodded, throat tight._

_ "Yes, your Majesty."_

"There is a great deal of concern amongst the international community regarding this incident, especially since our official statements regarding this issue have not been very clear," Zero answered smoothly. It wasn't totally a lie, but hardly the true reason. "As such, the Empress has decided my presence is required in order to reassure everyone that we are doing our utmost to catch the culprits behind this and return peace to the world."

"Ah… I see," Kallen nodded, wondering at this. It made sense, in a lot of ways. To the world, Zero was a hero of justice, capable of achieving the impossible, and second only to the Empress herself. There was no doubt in her mind that if the world was told Zero was handling this incident, they would breathe a sigh of relief and consider the matter solved.

Still though… because of all of this, she wondered absently if this was incident really so dire that Zero himself was needed?

"If that's settled, then I believe there is no more business to take care of," Schneizel stated calmly, sharing a glance with Nunnally, who nodded.

"Thank you, everyone," the Empress said softly. "I pray that this incident will be resolved swiftly, so that no more tears need be shed."

00000

"God above," Gino muttered, nostrils stinging with that uncomfortably familiar smell of gunsmoke and old blood as he stepped through the ruins of the Kyushu base. "I've seen some screwed up battles in my time, but this…"

His gut clenched. He was a soldier- killing was something he'd accepted, but not enjoyed, and stuff like this went way beyond the usual horror of war.

To his left, what remained of the infirmary smoldered, its doors half broken, and the remains of a corpse hang out of a particularly burnt hole that used to be the north wall. Behind him, a Sutherland Knightmare was busy attempting to remove the rubble and free the bodies trapped within.

To his right, rows of bodies were spread out across the empty grass area outside of the base. Tomorrow there would be many grieving orphans and widows coming to identify the bodies of their loved ones.

His teeth ground against each other.

Tomorrow he'd make damn sure there was a culprit who would beg for their forgiveness. Kneeling, he preferred, if one could kneel after you'd broken their kneecaps.

"Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen anymore," he muttered. "Just what the hell is going on…"

"Sir!" a voice burst out across his earpiece, the panicked voice of one of his lieutenants. "You should come to the mess hall immediately, Colonel. We've got something."

Gino moved quickly through the remains of the base, subordinates deftly dodging him as he practically charged through the relief workers who were frantically, and likely futilely, attempting to find anyone, anyone at all who was still alive.

The sight of the mess hall was like being sucker punched and choked simultaneously. His stomach dropped and he felt like all the air had been sucked out around him, making it difficult to breathe. It was by far the worst of the damage- this attack had clearly taken place at meal time, judging from the bloodstains that were visible even through the man-sized bullet holes in the walls.

_A Knightmare_, Gino thought to himself, and glanced down at the ground. Sure enough, there were signs of a machine crashing straight through into the building, judging from what little remained of the entryway.

Tactically, a brilliant, horribly cruel maneuver- most of the regiment would be there, cramped together in one space. If you wanted to wipe it out, that would be an excellent opportunity.

Waiting in front of the ruin was Lieutenant Keima, his executive officer. Keima was good at all the things Gino really hated about his job- the paperwork, the organizational duties, the constant meetings. It was one of the reasons he'd taken on the role of Knight of Rounds as opposed to joining the regular military- much less hassle, more hands on stuff. Kallen did her own scheduling, but for Gino, Keima was a lifesaver of immense proportions.

"What is it, Keima?" Gino questioned. His lieutenant wasn't particularly amiable, a cool-headed type, and usually only spoke so hurriedly if it was a matter of urgency.

"We found the remains of the Knightmare which attacked the mess hall. It was pretty much destroyed, but some of it remains salvageable," Keima answered slowly, face unusually pale. "I found the serial number in part of the wreckage and put it into our database. I haven't yet spoken to anyone else about it yet, but…"

He glanced to the side, as if wary, leaning in closer to his commander. "The Knightmare was registered to us, sir. Specifically… this base."

Gino blinked, and a cold chill, like an arctic breath, slithered down his spine to sink like a rock in his gut.

"You mean to say that our own men did this?" he hissed, barely audible.

"It's too early to tell sir," Keima replied quietly. "It could be that the Knightmare was hijacked, but that would involve obtaining both the driver and passcode to activate it from its owner. And something like that would be extremely difficult to do in the time frame of the attack… unless they had a way to obtain that information directly."

The former Knight of Rounds glanced back at the ruined building, the bodies strewn about and the wanton destruction that had been inflicted, and gritted his teeth. "Keep this between us. I want the name of the official registered pilot, Keima. And get me through to the capitol."

The Lieutenant saluted. "At once, sir."

As Keima turned and began relaying his orders, Gino sighed.

"Can this get any worse?"

If he had known what would happen in the coming days, Gino would have shot himself for saying those words.

00000

"Zero-sama, we are now beginning our descent into the Tokyo Settlement."

Sighing, he pressed the intercom button and replied, "Thank you."

The private plane allotted to him by the Empress was just barely comfortable enough to be considered VIP- his private compartment had locks on the inside, allowing him to remove his mask if he so chose. It had a small fridge and a single, comfortable chair.

Absently, he rolled the mask of Zero from one hand to the other, letting the empty glass stare back at him. Green eyes, dulled and weakened from constant shielding, were occasionally reflected.

Was that a line on his face, he wondered? It had been so long since he truly, truly looked at himself in the mirror, rather than just doing the bare minimum to trim his hair and facial growth, that he wasn't sure how much he had changed.

He chanced a look out the window. There, in the distance, was a haunting reminder of the past- the massive crater formed during the world's first encounter with the FLEIA weapon, which took millions of lives and changed the course of history forever. In memory of those who died that day, it had never been filled, and instead a single, towering obelisk had been erected at the very center of what was now called the Tokyo Peace Memorial.

He had only been there once before- that is, after he donned this mask, he had come- during the opening ceremony, only on request of the Empress herself who had poured countless weeks of effort into building it, mustering up resources from every corner she could.

The massive spire, made up of countless blocks of white marble, reached towards the sky like the prayers of the hopeful, a chance for redemption.

His thoughts were shaken as the entire plane shook with the jarring feeling of landing, and, despite himself, he smiled.

It felt kind of nice to be home.

00000

Kallen stood at rapt attention as Zero descended down the ramp of the plane, arms folded behind her back, legs set firmly. Behind her, an honor guard of sorts also stood, ram-rod straight, many of whom volunteered to go to the airport with her just for a chance to see the legendary Zero.

Briefly, Kallen wondered at herself. She was years younger than the men under her command, yet her rank was already as high as a Major within just a few years. If she hadn't spent a year and a half at Ashford to finish her schooling and had gone straight into the military like Gino, she'd likely be at his rank, Colonel, already.

It wasn't like she hadn't led others older than her into battle before- she'd been a Captain in the old Black Knights, after all- but that had been a resistance group that had become an army, not a full military from the get-go.

_"You're the best Knightmare Frame pilot in the world, Kallen. Of course you're being made an officer," Gino said, back when she first made the decision to enlist. _

"The best, huh?" Kallen rolled the words off her tongue, frowning slightly. That much was true, she supposed- she had defeated the only man to ever be a match for her on the battlefield, and now there was no one left in this world who should have the skill to beat her and the Guren.

But sometimes, when she was alone, in the dark, she couldn't help but remember the familiarity of Zero's movements, that inhuman ability that had only been held by-

"Major Kouzuki," Zero greeted, shattering her musings, holding out a gloved hand in greeting. "It's been quite some time since we last spoke in person."

Kallen straightened, legs pushing together as she saluted crisply. "Zero," she greeted in reply. "It's an honor to have you here in Japan, sir."

"I wish it could be under better circumstances, though," the masked hero added, and there was a touch of warmth that was tangible through the voice distorter.

"Thank you, sir," she replied, the words automatic and distant from herself. She hated it- this strange awkwardness around this Zero, the unsure nature of how she should treat the masked hero.

Yet, she never tried to guess at his identity. In the shadows of her heart she suspected, always suspected, but never wanted to prove it to herself.

She'd seen beneath the mask once upon a time, seen the man within, and it had changed everything for her, and maybe for everyone.

This time, maybe it was better that Zero remain an enigma.

"I'm sorry to rush you, Zero, but we must be going soon. I just received a call saying that Gino has some troubling news," Kallen said quickly, and two of her squad members stepped forward to help escort them back to the waiting car. "He left a message, which we can listen to on the way to the government building, if that's fine with you."

"Of course," Zero nodded. "The Empress wants this matter resolved quickly, as do us all."

That was something that didn't seem to change, Kallen mused. Zero was still Nunnally's protector. And that constancy was somewhat comforting to Kallen- as though it confirmed that what she had hoped all along was true.

That maybe the real Zero- maybe Lelouch- really wasn't the monster he had so painstakingly made himself out to be. That maybe some part of him was human, and that it lived on in that mask he had born for so long.

As the doors closed behind them, Kallen pressed a button embedded in the wall divider that separated the passenger compartment from the driver's seat. A false wall fell down in the middle of the compartment, revealing a compact screen. She pushed a different button and the screen flickered to life, revealing a number of touch screen commands.

Kallen selected a number of them in practiced order, and then pushed the large glowing button that read 'Play'.

Suddenly, Gino's face appeared on the screen.

"Yo, honey! How's everything back home! Bet ya miss me, don'tcha, toots?"

Kallen flushed, more so due to the fact that he was saying this in front of Zero, in a way, than anything else.

For his part, Zero pretended he didn't notice, but couldn't help curling his lip ever so slightly beneath the mask.

"He's a dead man," she muttered to herself, already imagining what kind of creative beatings she could inflict on him 'accidentally'.

Maybe she could ask him for an innocent spar and then step on him with the Guren. Or let Tamaki take the Tristan for a test run.

"Okay, I know, enough jokes," Gino chuckled, grinning impishly for a moment, before his smile dropped and he was all business. "We've got a problem."

The former pilot of the Guren straightened, shaken from her thoughts of vengeance.

"During the attack on the base, a Knightmare broke in and killed a lot of the regiment while they were at the mess hall," Gino explained, voice dropping as he added quietly, "That Knightmare was registered to one of our pilots at the base."

Kallen felt a lead weight drop in her gut.

Next to her, Zero's gloved hand tightened. It wasn't the same as knowing that a Brittanian man with a previous history of discrimination had murdered a Japanese officer, but it was still a sign that the base had been split apart by a miniature civil war between Brittania and Japan.

"I've got my Lieutenant looking into the pilot, and I've made sure that this information is restricted. Don't want anyone panicking just yet," Gino continued, and Zero breathed a silent sigh of relief, thankful that the former Knight of Three was, despite appearances, a highly intelligent and capable soldier. "But pass this along to Zero and the Empress- things are worse than we thought. We might have been infiltrated- if so, then this information needs to be restricted until we figure out who we can trust."

Under the circumstances, a viable, though incorrect conclusion. Zero was thankful that there wasn't more evidence at the moment that this was more than anti-government insurrectionists.

"I'll let you know what I find out," Gino finished, and suddenly he was smiling cheekily again. "Ciao for now, sweetheart. Be sure to give me a kiss as a reward when I get back!"

The silence in the car following the end of the message was extremely awkward to Kallen, and she strived to fill the gap.

"I wish he wouldn't make jokes like that," she muttered awkwardly, cheeks still red as she avoided looking anywhere at Zero or the screen. "It's one thing to do it when he's here, it's another when he's using an official channel to send a message." _And in front of _Zero_, of all people._

Zero was quiet for a while, and Kallen squirmed until he finally replied. "Perhaps he's fond of you," he said. "You two have been working together for some time, if I remember."

Though he said it tonelessly and through a voice distorter, Kallen could have sworn that Zero was teasing her.

"He's always saying stuff like that," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "He likes to think he's a charmer or something. God's gift to women."

"You don't have an interest in him?" Zero asked, surprised at his own lapse of professionalism. But, some part of him must have wanted to break that, he supposed, a part that still hungered for normal conversation.

Kallen sputtered at the suddenness of the inquiry, turning a cherubic shade of crimson that was reminiscent of her hair. "I… he's nice and all, but…" she began, eyes growing distant as she glanced out the window. "I don't know… I don't think I'm really the type to date. Love isn't something I seem to be very good with."

"You don't think you'll ever love someone?" he questioned, curious despite himself.

She smiled sadly, looking downwards at her lap- or more precisely, at the Guren key that still hung around her neck, a weapon she had been given so many years ago, by a man she'd sworn to protect.

"I think I did love someone once," she answered, voice tinged with regret. "But it didn't work out."

Without thinking, he asked, for the first time in years outside of his persona as Zero, "What happened?"

Kallen looked back up at him, or maybe at the mask of Zero, that symbol of justice and freedom that someone else, a long time ago, had taken it upon himself to bear.

"You killed him," she said simply.

00000

Nunnally stared out of her office window, briefly wondering yet again at the amazing power of sight that so many took for granted. The sweeping chrome metal spires of New Pendragon stretched out like glittering jewels against the backdrop of an endlessly blue sky.

It was picturesque, beautiful, and tranquil.

And it could all be engulfed in the flames of war if she was unable to resolve this crisis in time.

Without thinking, her hands drifted to a small locket she wore around her neck, a present from Milly at her birthday a year after her brother's death. It was golden with a single amethyst jewel in the center, but it was what was inside that was the real treasure.

_ "This is for you," Milly said softly, pressing it into her hands with a soft smile. "I… I was keeping it but I think it should be yours."_

Pressing it open, Nunnally was greeted by the smiling, gentle eyes of her brother, a snapshot of him in one of those rare, precious unguarded moments where he was at his most honest.

It helped calm her, even now, helped her feel like his spirit was still with her, still watching over her.

"There's something terribly wrong with the world," Kaguya whispered softly, wringing her hands worriedly as she stepped in line next to Nunnally to look out the window. "I don't know why, but even though everything looks so peaceful, there's an unease in my heart that won't go away."

"There's something wicked in the air," Nunnally agreed, sealing the picture up within the locket again. "What do you think would happen, Kaguya-san, if word got out?"

The Chairwoman of the U.N. Council gave her a pinched look, reluctant to broach the issue. Sighing, she replied, "The worst case scenario… Mass riots in the streets. The die-hard conservatives in Japan who still resent our cooperation with Brittania would suddenly have a great deal of political clout- enough to cause us real trouble. The anti-government insurgents could use this discord to weaken us further, or forge an alliance with those conservatives and become a greater threat."

Nunnally clenched her hands. "Who would stay with us?"

Kaguya pressed a finger to her cheek thoughtfully. "Ougi-san, of course. Toudou-san maybe… his allegiance has always been to Japan, so he'll work with whoever he sees will benefit the homeland the most. Most of the old Black Knights will likely stand alongside Ougi, though, meaning that the government would remain stable."

The Empress turned towards the other woman with a pensive look. "And yourself, Kaguya-san?" there was a slight tremble in her voice. They had become close in these years of peace, being of similar ages and both of royal backgrounds- she did not want to lose her friend over such an issue.

The Chairwoman gave her a look of mock hurt, before embracing Nunnally lightly, smiling gently. "I'm not going anywhere," she answered softly, pulling away, smile brightening up considerably. "After all, once upon a time, I could have been your sister-in-law!"

Nunnally laughed at that- a real, full laugh, her first since this crisis began. "I would have liked that," she murmured thoughtfully, hand unconsciously touching the locket around her neck. "I think you and my brother would have been a good match."

Kaguya smiled at that, turning away with a bemused look. Her picture of that man, Lelouch vi Brittania, was so skewed- she'd known him as a remarkably beautiful, fiercely intelligent child, then as a captivating and mysterious freedom fighter, and then finally as the terrible and cruel Demon Emperor everyone had knew him as. They were all fragments, puzzle pieces that remained separate and isolated from each other.

And by the time she started to suspect that there was more to him than that, that there was a kindness buried beneath the layers of deceit and treachery, he had already been killed by the very symbol of justice he had created.

"If only," she said offhandedly, shaking her head. "He was quite a man, your brother."

"He was," Nunnally agreed, voice a whisper, hand tightening over the golden locket. Her voice picked up strength as she continued, "Do you know why I changed my name back to Lamperouge, Kaguya-san?"

The Chairwoman shook her head.

"The people think I'm erasing the past of my brother and father, of the Brittanian royal family," she began quietly, releasing the golden locket from her hand. "But I did it to remember. To keep my brother, my real brother- not Lelouch vi Brittania- but Lelouch Lamperouge, alive. That's the way I want to remember him- not as an Emperor or as Zero, but as my kind brother."

"I wish I had known Lelouch Lamperouge," Kaguya murmured honestly.

"If only he was here now," Nunnally said quietly, a hint of desperation in her voice as her hands tightened until her knuckles went white. "He was always stronger than me… strong enough to bear the sins and hate of the world and never let it show how much he was crying. If he was here..."

"Your brother could work miracles," Kaguya interrupted gently, clasping Nunnally's hands in her own as she met the Empress' now tear-filled gaze. "With his life, he gave us this miracle of a peaceful world… he gave it to you, Nunnally."

She smiled comfortingly. "He trusted that you could protect it. He believed in you, Nunnally."

The Empress looked down for a long while, saying nothing, until finally she looked back up at Kaguya with a benevolent smile.

"Thank you, Kaguya-san. I needed that."

The Chairwoman grinned back. "What are sisters for?"

They exchanged amused looks for another moment longer, until a loud, persistent ring broke the peaceful silence.

Nunnally grabbed the nearby telephone hurriedly. "Yes?" she answered.

"Nunnally-sama, please switch on the television," Schneizel's voice came out over the line, sounding troubled. "We have a problem."

00000

Half an hour earlier, a call had come in to a news station.

Ten minutes later, a news report was sitting on the desk of the former Student Council President of Ashford Academy, along with a battered and possibly bloodstained journal of one Corporal Hibiki.

"You can't seriously expect me to report this!" Milly Ashford protested, slamming her hand down over the news report she had been tasked to deliver. "This… this is warmongering, for God's sake! I might be a news anchor, but I am not going to report something so… so…"

"It's a story, Milly," the network executive interrupted, giving her a stern look that couldn't hide the greed in his eyes. "The most exciting story in years- we have to report it."

"This could cause a war!" Milly shrieked back, standing up out of her chair and slamming her hands down on her desk again. "It'll be anarchy! People will be in an uproar about this. They'll start throwing accusations at each other, and pretty soon things could get out of control."

"The media is tasked to deliver the truth, and truth like this brings in the ratings," he replied easily, greedily, shaking his head. "The people need to be told."

Disgusted, Milly opened her mouth to protest again, but was cut off.

"Think about this… that guy who called this in wanted it to be reported. If we don't, he'll just call another station," the man explained patiently, crossing his arms. "One way or another, it's going to get out. If you do it, then you at least can control how it gets spun."

Milly clenched her fists. "… Understood."

00000

"This is Milly Ashford, coming to you live. This just in… we have just received a shocking piece of information related to the horrifying tragedy that took place just yesterday at the Black Knight's base located in the island of Kyushu, Japan.

"According to a source who wishes to remain anonymous, four days before the Shiroda forward base was discovered to be in ruins, one of the drill sergeants on the base, a Sergeant James Winchester, born July 3rd, 1987 A.T.B. in the Brittanian homeland, murdered his commanding officer, Captain Mishizawa Ayasaki. To help confirm his claim he has released the journal of one of the soldiers at the base, a Corporal Hibiki Yuuji. In the diary, dated at the same time as our anonymous source indicated to us, Corporal Hibiki writes an entry that details that same incident.

"Unfortunately, that entry is also the diary's last entry, indicating the tragic possibility that the Corporal was killed soon after, leaving the events that followed this murder unknown.

"However, our anonymous tipster also informed us that Sergeant Winchester had previously been on probation a number of years before due to accusations of discrimination against the Japanese soldiers under his command- a fact that we have managed to confirm for ourselves by accessing his career service record.

"From this, our source speculated that perhaps this murder, which seems to have occurred prior to the destruction of the Kyushu base, may in fact have triggered an incident between the Japanese and Brittanian soldiers of the base, and this escalated until the base itself was destroyed.

"Now, we must insist we have not yet ascertained any truth to this conclusion, and we are waiting for official word from the members of the government. Prime Minister Ougi of Japan released an official statement earlier today stating that the causes of the attack were unknown, indicating that the government perhaps had not yet been aware of this piece of information.

"How this will affect the ongoing investigation, which is currently being headed up Zero himself, is still unknown.

"Captain Mishizawa Ayasaki was forty three years old this April, and leaves behind a wife and two children…"

00000

It was like all the air had been drained from the room. Kallen felt like there was air in her lungs but it was heavier than lead, strangling her from the inside.

"My God," she heard in the background, from one of her coworkers.

Milly's voice, familiar and beloved, was juxtaposed next to the horror her words were conveying to her.

What would happen now, she asked herself, feeling like she was viewing everything from outside of her own body. Everyone would be talking about it. The diehard conservatives on both sides would have ammo aplenty to throw against Nunnally and the rest of the current government. People would start to remember when Japan was called Area 11 again, and then the old hatreds, the massacres, the endless cycle of violence.

If the fighting started up again, if Japan had to fight Brittania again…

Who would she side with?

She shook her head violently, tightening her fists into balls. There was no need for that kind of thinking. Ougi-san was in charge of Japan, and he was married to a Brittanian- his children were half and half, just like her. What's more, Brittania itself was ruled by Nunnally, for God's sake, the most gentle young woman she had ever met.

There couldn't be a war.

There just couldn't…

"Kallen? Kallen!"

Suddenly the mask of Zero loomed in front of her face as she blinked, startled back into reality by the sound of his voice.

"I'm sorry Zero, I was distracted. Forgive me," she apologized quickly, sounding breathless.

"As I said, we need to get to that station and trace the call, as well as to secure that diary, which could have more evidence as to the truth of this matter," Zero instructed, briskly ignoring her apology, sounding impatient even with a voice filter. He paused, however, after he spoke, regretting his forward tone, his mask tilting ever so slightly as he leaned in concernedly. "Are you okay?"

Kallen swallowed, and nodded, not trusting her voice.

There just couldn't…

00000

"God damn it!" Gino snarled, punching the wooden table in front of him as he stared at the screen in the spacious tent that was currently serving as headquarters for his part of the investigation.

Shutting his eyes tightly, he gritted his teeth. "We're being played … somebody else knew something was seriously rotten here…"

Outside, he could hear murmurs amongst his soldiers, many of whom were Japanese soldiers from the old guard of the Black Knights- people who remembered the battles against Brittania, the ghettoes, the anger. Now there was a serious chance his investigation would be compromised, especially since he used to be Brittania's military elite, a Knight of Rounds.

"If only we could find that damn Private Shigeru," the former Knight of Three murmured, frustrated. "We'd know exact what the hell we're dealing with…"

"Sir, Prime Minister Ougi is on the line for you." Lieutenant Keima's voice broke through his anger. Though considerably paler after the announcement, Keima kept his composure as he held a phone out to his commander.

Gino took the phone with a grateful nod.

"I take it you've seen the news?" Ougi's voice sounded shaky as he attempted to put a bit of humor into it, but he sounded in better shape than Gino felt. This was definitely the right man to be the Prime Minister of Japan.

"Yeah. This is a right mess," he muttered, shaking his head. "Has the little Empress heard this yet?"

"The Empress is calling together an emergency session of the United Nations Council as we speak," Ougi answered. "Schneizel is preparing an official preliminary statement to be issued before the Council convenes. And Xing-ke and the rest of the Black Knights command core will be meeting in a few hours to discuss security."

"What about Zero and Kallen?" The investigation on the mainland was more important than ever now. Zero's credibility was likely their best asset against unrest right now- hopefully it could buy them some extra time before the masses grew impatient.

"They're trying to track down this anonymous tipster, see who he is. Kallen suggested it might be our missing Private," the Prime Minister responded tightly.

Gino clenched his teeth and nodded. "Yeah, that would make sense. How are things on the mainland?"

"My office has been receiving non-stop calls since the broadcast began," Ougi answered tiredly. "I'm preparing to make a speech, to try and reassure the public. In the meantime, Xing-ke asks that you lock down the base until further notice. Keep investigating, but bar all access aside from personnel you can trust. We need to control the information that gets out about the base."

"Understood," the former Knight of Three straightened. "Good luck, Ougi-san."

"You too, Weinberg-san. Godspeed."

00000

"Things are starting to get out of hand, Jeremiah-san," Sayoko commented softly, shutting off the television in the room.

"Indeed. But its intentions are clear now." He gritted his teeth. "If only we had known, we could have acted differently."

"Are you saying we should have let Brittania have Private Shigeru?" the ninja maid asked slowly, raising her eyebrow.

"No, that would have given them too much. The upper echelons of this new government have not forgotten my master, or his powers. It could have made the situation worse, and restricted our ability to act," Jeremiah refuted, shaking his head. "What's done is done. What is necessary now is our next step."

"Anya-kun is on her way to ascertain the location of the anonymous caller. There might still be traces of it left. Since the investigation still doesn't know what they're really up against, they'll likely miss what we're looking for and won't tamper the evidence." Sayoko turned away from him, biting her lip as she stared at the now empty screen, as if it held even more disastrous news for them. "Though with circumstances being as they are, eliminating the source of this disturbance might not be enough."

"At least we're closing in on it," the former knight murmured, closing his eyes. "God willing, we can put an end to this before it does any more damage and irrevocably destroys Lelouch-sama's sacrifice."

00000

It didn't take much for them to get into the station- Kallen didn't even think she needn't to present her identification, since the second the security guard saw that legendary mask their eyes were glued to it like moths to a flame. Zero himself had no official identification, and in truth no official powers or position- yet the sheer force of his reputation allowed him so much more than any government officiation could give.

A part of her wondered at this, at the man who murdered Lelouch being blessed by his victim's deeds. If this Zero had used that reputation to maneuver politically and gain power in the new government structure, there would have been alarm amongst the command structure of the Black Knights, but instead Zero had contented himself with standing guard over the Empress and using his powers only at her behest.

Kallen's thoughts were abruptly broken when two slim hands maneuvered themselves behind her and unceremoniously groped her breasts.

"Oh my, you've gotten even bigger, Kallen!"

The Major screeched and pulled herself free, whirling about, ready to beat the ever living hell out of-

"Kaichou!" the word, so familiar, escaped her lips, even though it had been years since Ashford Academy.

"Aw, Kallen-chan, I'm not in charge of the Student Council anymore," Milly winked lasciviously. "You should really stop calling me that."

"Old habits die hard," the redhead replied, tone darkening with sarcasm as she added, "For both of us, it seems."

"Oh well, you know how it is," she responded airily, waving her hand in dismissal. "I hardly ever get to work with beautiful ladies, so when one comes marching through my door..."

Zero couldn't help but chuckle. Milly Ashford was the kind of personality that could draw out a smile from a granite statue. However, he couldn't indulge in those emotions so carelessly. Coughing, he interrupted smoothly, "I apologize for intruding on this reunion, Ashford-san, but I'm afraid time is of the essence."

Milly had the grace to blush, realizing she was in the presence of Zero.

"My apologies, Zero," she managed clumsily, bowing her head respectfully. "This way, of course."

She led them down a hallway that was unfortunately filled with offices, whose occupants were doing their best impressions of turkeys as they gawked at Zero.

However, the masked hero did a rather admirable job of ignoring these stares, aided by the fact that he was feeling more and more apprehensive and desperate about the current situation to worry about any onlookers.

Not for the first time, he felt as though he were a child trying to fill an adult's shoes. Lelouch had been a powerful, provocative figure as Zero, with that deadly combination of unmatched brilliance and intoxicating charisma, seemingly always having a solution to any situation he was faced with.

He knew that last one for a fact, having been the first Zero's mortal enemy for much of their respective careers. And now that he was replacing Lelouch, he wondered just what he had signed himself up for. How could he hope to match that 'miraculous' ability of the original Zero, that power that could turn despair into victory?

He wasn't brilliant, nor did he have the charisma his old friend possessed. He was a soldier, not a ruler, and definitely not a demagogue. Lelouch had never needed any martial ability of his own, only a keen mind, honeyed words, and of course, the Geass, to bring the world down to its knees.

Could he really hope to protect the peace as Zero, without any of the abilities that had made Zero legendary?

He was so immersed in his thoughts that he almost failed to notice a somewhat familiar figure turning the corner in front of them, a figure with unmistakably pink hair.

_Anya? _Zero shook his head, incredulous. _Couldn't be. She works outside the city, helping manage Jeremiah's orange farm…_

But that figure was still strikingly similar…

"Here we are," Milly said cheerfully, pushing open the door to a spacious looking office. "I had it sent to my office to help make things more private for you two. I'll be outside, so just call if you need anything! Toodles!"

Kallen couldn't help but giggle at the familiarity of Milly's antics as she followed Zero into the room.

The masked man went directly to the diary on the desk, leaving the Major to take the time to look around the room, staring at the pictures on the walls- many of which were shots Milly had taken with familiar faces, like the Chinese Empress Tianzi, or Lloyd-san and Cecile-san at Ougi's wedding…

Strangely, there were no pictures of Lelouch anywhere. But, she supposed, a bitter smile tugging at her lips, a famous news anchor couldn't have pictures of the much maligned 'Demon Emperor' hanging on her walls, could she?

"Kallen, over here."

Her thoughts were broken by the cold sound of Zero's distorted voice, and she turned around to see the masked man holding up the diary in question with his gloved hands.

"Is something wrong?" Even through a voice filter, there was a tone of graveness in Zero's voice that she couldn't mistake.

He nodded, a dark kind of movement noticeable even with a mask.

"There's a page missing from this diary… someone tore it out, and recently." He pointed towards the scraps of paper still clumsily left on the desk, and then opened the diary to a portion which clearly had a single page ripped out of it. "We still have the information that the media released about the diary, regarding the murder of the Captain, but whatever information was contained on the following page…"

The room seemed to be spinning around her.

"Is gone."

"Shit," Kallen swore, and Zero couldn't help but feel that summarized the situation perfectly.

Author's Notes

After a few weeks of deliberation and the comments of several readers, I've decided to break up the chapters of this story. My original intent was for this to be a one shot, but it grew beyond my expectations. Thus, now you get several pieces of the story, and now I'm actually going to put in the author's notes I was saving for the end.

The title of Part I, as some of you may know, is part of the quote "God's in his heaven, all's right with the world" is taken from a poem by Robert Browning called "Pippa Passes", more commonly known as the motto of the organization NERV in Neon Genesis Evangelion. The irony of that quote is that the poem is about horrible, horrible events and the line "God's in his Heaven, all's right with the world" is mocking that. So I thought it fitting, considering the events of Part I.

Private Shigure's Service Number is a subtle nod to Halo, the SRR-117 being an abbreviation of Sierra-117, the Master Chief's callsign. Just a little tidbit I threw in there for my own amusement. And his first name, Daisukenojo, is a nod to The World Ends With You's "Beat", whose real name is Daisukenojo. Much like Lieutenant Keima's name is a nod to the main character of The World God Only Knows (unrelated title).


	2. Part II: And The Devil Rules Below

Part II: And The Devil Rules Below

_"Like one, that on a lonesome road doth walk in fear and dread, And having once turned round walks on, And turns no more his head; Because he knows,  
a frightful fiend doth close behind him tread"_  
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"Ougi-san, the preparations for the speech are complete," Minami reported genially, though his brow was furrowed with exhaustion that he looked much older than he was. He was the Prime Minister's personal aide, the two having been working together since the days before even the Black Knights, when they were simply a small resistance cell operating out of Shinjuku.

Ougi suspected he probably looked similar, given the circumstances. "Ah, thank you," he said quietly, standing from his chair, scooping up and arranging the notes for his speech from off his desk as he did so.

"You should go home, Minami," the Prime Minister advised. "It's nearly dusk, and you've been working since yesterday."

The former Black Knight shook his head, managing a small smile. "No thank you," he responded quietly. "I can't go home, not when things are like this… especially since you've been shouldering the burden of dealing with the anger of the people…"

"You're a good man, Minami," Ougi said softly, smiling tiredly. "And a better friend."

He paused, glancing towards the bookshelf, atop of which sat the pictures of the comrades they had lost- Inoue and Yoshida's pictures were the most prominent.

"How did we get here, Minami?" he asked slowly.

Minami followed his gaze, and smiled softly in remembrance of their fallen comrades. "It surprises me sometimes, how far we've come," he agreed, nodding his head. "Despite it all, I guess we have Zero to thank… the original."

"Lelouch," Ougi murmured, turning the name over in his mouth, as always, with heavily mixed and murky feelings about the young man he had once sworn allegiance to. "Do you ever wonder, why it was that it had to be us who met him that day?"

His secretary shrugged. "Coincidence."

"Then," the Prime Minister continued quietly, "Do you believe that it's coincidence that I'm standing here, in this position? That… maybe I shouldn't…"

Minami placed a stern hand upon his shoulder, breaking the tirade. He smiled.

"Ougi-san, you're a fine leader. I know you'll be able to help guide Japan to the correct future."

Ougi managed a small smile. "Thank you, Minami."

00000

"Citizens of Japan, this is a time of tragedy," Ougi said slowly, hands on the podium outside of the government building. In front of him, a massive crowd of people murmured anxiously, looking to him, of all people, for answers.

He felt the weight of his responsibility keenly today, perhaps more so than any other time.

"The lives lost at the Shiroda base will never be forgotten, nor should we simply accept their deaths. However, I ask of you, please, do not let anger get the better of you.

"Right now our country, our world, has entered a new era of peace. The peace we dreamed of, the peace all people want and deserve, is here. However, we were not given this peace- we paid for it, with many lives, and many tears. If we allow ourselves to give in to anger, to let fear rule our hearts, we will return to the hateful world we have just started to escape."

"My son was at that base!" a man roared, stepping out to the front of the crowd, and like a trigger, so many others began to speak.

"My daughter was just a desk clerk! She didn't deserve to die!" a mother wept bitterly, falling to her knees.

"They said my father was killed by a Brittanian!" a young boy, no older than twelve, but with hatred that was bright and fierce as the sun, yelled.

"Are you saying we should do nothing!"

"What do you expect? He's married to one of them, after all!"

"That's right!"

"Brittanian lover!"

"Traitor!"

Ougi tried to speak up again. "Wait, please, listen to reason…"

"We don't want to hear it!"

A rock, picked up of the floor, was hurled at him, and Ougi reflexively ducked. Instantaneously, the Black Knights who were standing around him swept forward, guns raised, all of them wearing riot gear, having been placed there in the event of just such a scenario.

"Wait, please!" Ougi begged, but the soldiers would not listen to him, too caught up in the angry mood of the crowd as they began to push them back.

"You're just like them!"

"Brittanian puppet!"

And then, the absolute worst case scenario happened.

A shot rang out, and suddenly, the angry crowd was a screaming chorus of panicked voices, trampling over one another to escape the Black Knights, revealing the body of who had been shot.

"God… no…" Ougi whispered, and broke forward, tearing past the guards who attempted to restrain him until he reached the body.

It was just a boy, that boy who had spoken up earlier and said his father had been killed. A pool of blood was escaping his crumpled form, soaking Ougi's shoes.

Shaking, Ougi knelt, fumbling as his hands pressed against the boy's neck, praying for a pulse.

"He's still alive!" he said, panicked, waving for the soldiers to come forward, but before they could reach him, the crowd's ire had returned as their fear faded.

"You bastards! You're just like Brittania!" they surged forward, a faceless, angry force that was ready to smash him to pieces to vent their anger and fear.

And Ougi, who had lived through many battles in the war, both in the cockpit of a Knightmare, on foot, and even on the bridge of a ship, was completely and utterly frozen, helpless until a strong arm hooked around his own and dragged him frantically backwards, a curtain of Black Knights soldiers encircling him to cover his escape.

"Are you crazy!" Minami swore at him, pulling him back inside the government building. "You're the Prime Minister, for God's sake! And what would Villetta and the kids have done if something happened!"

But Ougi couldn't hear him, eyes distant and wide, watching the violence outside continue to grow and grow, like a flash wildfire, that would spread and spread until it engulfed the whole world in the fires of war.

And once again, he could do nothing but watch.

00000

From the shadows of a nearby alleyway, sharp eyes tracked the movements of the crowd, following a figure that moved within the crowd, yet separate from it, too perfectly cutting through to escape unnoticed.

In one hand, she held the torn page of Corporal Hibiki's diary, the page Zero had just discovered was missing from the rest of the record.

Quickly, Anya pulled out a cellphone and punched in a number. The phone rang only once.

"It's me," she said quietly. "It's here, in the Settlement. I think it probably has something to do with why this riot is getting out of hand… you'd better hurry."

00000

From her office, Nunnally watched, horrified, hands clasped over her mouth, tears spilling from her cheeks.

"How could this happen…"

Kaguya gripped her shoulder tightly, her own lip wavering, but she was clearly attempting to remain strong, knowing that this was a critical moment.

"Nunnally-san, I'm sorry, but we need to act quickly," the Chairwoman said softly, soothingly. "Cornelia-san has decided to head to Japan in order to personally regain order, but she won't be able to do it alone, especially since…"

"Since she's a Brittanian Princess," Nunnally finished quietly, straightening, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I understand."

"Our first objective should be to arrest the soldier who fired the shot," Schneizel cut in, stepping forward at long last. "He needs to be held accountable for what he's done."

"Are you saying we should offer him as a scapegoat, Schneizel-san?" Kaguya challenged, giving him a hard look.

"I am saying that the people want justice, and shooting an unarmed civilian is, at any time, a crime, one that this man must be held accountable for," Schneizel replied civilly.

"We will arrest him, but we will only try him after this crisis is over, so as to allow him a fairer tribunal," Nunnally said levelly. "In the meantime… I am going to Tokyo."

Both Kaguya and Schneizel blinked and turned towards the Empress with mixed looks of surprise and apprehension.

"Nunnally-san… is that wise?" the Chairwoman questioned, placing a hand on the other girl's arm.

"I don't know," Nunnally responded, shaking her head determinedly. "But I cannot stay here, far away from these events. I must go… there has to be something I can do."

For a long while, no one said anything, the silence being filled in by the continuing murmurs of the news report.

"If that's how you feel, I guess I have no choice but to agree," Kaguya said, smiling slightly, and Nunnally gave her a grateful look in return.

"I cannot disagree with you," Schneizel began slowly, "But I would ask that you please wait just a little longer before departing personally. Right now Zero-san is working to contain this incident, and your arrival could do more harm than good for his investigation."

Kaguya nodded. "That sounds like a good idea… in the meantime, you should get some rest, Nunnally-san. It's getting quite late."

The Empress opened her mouth to disagree, but Kaguya gave her a stern look.

"This is your older sister's order!" she said firmly, but there was a twinkle in her eyes as she said it.

Nunnally chuckled, nodding reluctantly. "I understand… Schneizel-nii-sama, please inform Cornelia-onee-sama of my orders regarding the shooter."

The former Prince nodded. "Understood. Good night then, Empress, Chairwoman."

00000

"Christ, this is one messed up situation," Shinichiro Tamaki muttered, holding the slender bottom of a bottle of aged whisky, pouring out two glasses, no ice, for himself and his guest. "I thought us and Brittania were cool already, you know!"

Ougi nodded tiredly, his suit jacket hanging off the back of his chair, shirt unbuttoned and tie cast aside on the other chair, as he accepted the glass of the amber liquid, gulping it down in one go, savoring the burn. "Thank you, Tamaki, for letting us stay here. The house is being hounded by the media, so…"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Tamaki said cheerily, gesturing. "This is my bar, and my apartment is just upstairs so you can be comfortable. You and the family are welcome to stay here till this all blows over."

"You're very kind, Tamaki-san," came a smooth, quiet voice.

Ougi smiled, and even through his weariness, he cast his wife a loving look. "The kids are asleep, then?"

Ougi Villetta, formerly Villetta Nu, nodded and smiled back, leaning against the doorframe that lead to the second floor. "Naoto just fell asleep. Suzuna is still fretting a little, since it's not her room, but she'll be okay. Ayame-san said she'd watch over her."

She stepped towards her husband, placing a worried arm on his as she kissed him lightly on the brow. "I'm glad you're safe," she said quietly.

The Prime Minister smiled a little wider, thanking her silently for her support- right now, the support and love of his family were about all he still had going for him, considering right now a lot of people were of the mind to make a motion to impeach him or flat out throw him out of office for his bungling of this incident.

And part of him really wouldn't blame them at all, because apparently he couldn't even keep the peace in his own country.

"It's just so weird, ya know!" Tamaki continued, pouring himself and Ougi another round, giving an inquisitive look to Villetta, asking silently if she wanted a glass as well (who shook her head), and then continuing, "Why the heck are people getting so angry so fast! I mean, Brittania hasn't been our enemy for years!"

"That's true," Villetta agreed, placing herself on the stool next to Ougi, comfortingly resting her head against his shoulder as her brow furrowed worriedly. "Even if this incident was the result of a conflict between Brittanians and the Japanese, it shouldn't be progressing to open hostility this quickly."

"So what does that mean then?" Ougi asked quietly, swirling the whisky in his glass slowly, watching the liquid slosh against the sides.

"Dunno, s'just weird is all," Tamaki muttered rebelliously, leaning over the counter of the bar as he drank the shot glass clean in one go.

For a while, there was a low silence in the bar, Villetta humming a nameless tune as she continued to lean against Ougi, both of them savoring the comfort of being next to each other. Tamaki smiled- he hadn't been sure what to make of the girl Ougi had fallen for, not to mention the fact that she was a Brittanian soldier to boot, but she made his buddy happy, so she was good in his books.

"What should I do?" Ougi said quietly, glancing down at his wife. "I've already screwed up trying to keep the people from rioting… maybe I should just quit. I'm not cut out for this. I'm not like Toudou-san, or Kaguya-sama, I'm no… no…"

"Lelouch?" Villetta finished softly, placing a hand on over his arm, gazing up at him.

The Prime Minister swallowed, throat suddenly dry. "Yeah."

"What are you saying, man!" Tamaki said loudly, angrily slamming his hand down on the counter. "Lelouch was a bastard! He took over the world man! He nearly killed us! He used us!"

"And guys like him are cut out for politics," Ougi replied, biting his lip. "Lelouch, no matter what he was, was also Zero, a man who knew how to play the people, how to work the system… I can't do anything like that. I don't know how to convince people about things, or lead them…"

"But you know what's right," Villetta countered , straightening, giving him a fierce look. "You've always done what you thought was right. That's why they picked you to be Prime Minister. Because you would always do exactly as you believed was correct."

Ougi gave her a weary, but absolutely grateful smile, saying nothing.

In the distance, the distinctive low cry of a child began to stir, and from the stairwell the face of Shinichiro Ayame, formerly Futaba Ayame, one of the bridge crew members of the Ikaruga, appeared, looking embarrassed.

Villetta stood out of her chair with amused resignation.

"I suppose Suzuna is awake," she said, chuckling.

Ayame gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry, I was trying to check on her quietly, but I guess she's pretty sharp."

Kissing her husband on the cheek, Villetta went up the stairs to comfort her crying daughter, Ayame following close behind, continuing to apologize for disturbing the girl.

Ougi watched her go with a contented smile on his face.

Tamaki chuckled. "Man, Ayame really loves your guy's kids…"

"You should have some of your own," the Prime Minister jibed, grinning at his old friend.

"Me, a daddy?" Tamaki blinked, and laughed wildly, thumbing his chest. "I like that!"

The two shared a good, hearty laugh, the strongest medicine against troubled times like these, each of them drawing strength in the fact that they had someone to go home to every night.

"You know, it's weird you said that guy Lelouch's name earlier," Tamaki began distractedly, half to himself as he began washing out the shot glasses. Ougi was only partly paying attention himself. "I was just thinking to myself, it's so weird, but…"

The Prime Minister turned towards him with a puzzled look. "But what?"

Tamaki shrugged.

"Doesn't all this stuff kind of seem like something Lelouch would do? You know, with that Geass of his, he could make people do stuff like this and go crazy. I know he's dead and all that… it's just… I dunno, I guess all this crazy stuff happening just reminds me of those old days when he was Zero, you know?"

And Ougi suddenly felt a terrifying realization draw upon him.

"Tamaki, get me a phone. Now."

00000

"I just don't get it," Milly said worriedly, shaking her head as she moved alongside both Kallen and Zero towards the surveillance room. "No one was seen going into my office, and I only just left to get you two. We were gone for maybe ten minutes at most."

"And you're sure the page was here before that," Kallen questioned, stride fierce and determined.

"Positively!" the former Student Council President assured her, biting her lip.

"I'm sure the video cameras caught the culprit on tape. They won't get far," Zero cut in, sounding more composed than he actually felt as he opened the door to the surveillance room.

However…

"Sorry, sir-er, Zero-sama," the security guard, an older, rather wide gentleman with thinning hair said nervously, sweating. "The camera that you want is number 34, but that one went down for a few minutes at the time you want."

A pin could have dropped in the next room and you could have heard it in the following few seconds, until the other occupants of the room regained their wits.

"And… what, you didn't think that was worth reporting in!" Kallen snarled angrily, rounding on the man.

The guard gave a frightened squeak- the Guren's pilot could be rather terrifying when provoked.

"Camera glitches happened a-a-all the time," the guard managed, "I was just sending somebody to fix it when it came back on, so I thought there were no problems."

"This is way too suspicious…" Kallen muttered, clenching her fists. "What do you think, Zero…"

She turned, but the masked man was already gone, the door still hanging open from his departure. Sighing, she took a step forward to follow him out of the room, but her phone began to ring.

Kallen glanced down at the caller id, eyes widening as she did.

"Ougi-san?" she wondered out loud, putting it to her ear. "What is it?"

As he began to speak, suddenly the Guren's pilot felt the world pull the rug from out under her feet.

00000

"This is too perfect," Zero muttered, shaking his head angrily as he made his way towards the camera. "Someone took out the cameras and stole the diary page… somebody who doesn't want us to know the truth."

They took the survivor of the base to keep the truth hidden, and yet consistently more and more evidence continued to show without ever providing the full details of the incident. The more that people knew the more dangerous things became, and yet there always the feeling like they were missing something, something crucial, essential…

"The more we know, the less we understand," he said to himself, coming to a halt at the corner where the camera that overlooked Milly's office was position.

His eyes scanned the hallway, finding nothing but cheap rugs, fake potted plants, and white washed wall-

And a small, quarter sized metal oblong lying directly beneath the camera. Hurriedly, Zero knelt, picking the object up between his gloved fingers delicately, turning it over. Something about its construction seemed familiar, but he couldn't place where. Deciding to have Lloyd look at it later, he pocketed it.

"Zero!"

He turned to see Kallen running down the hall helter skelter, red faced, panicked, and immediately felt dread sink into his heart.

_What now?_

"I just got off the phone with Ougi-san," she said breathlessly, and glanced surreptitiously about the hallway. Satisfied no one was about, she leaned in closer and whispered hesitantly, "… he thinks that Lelouch is behind this."

He felt a cold chill run down his spine, even as he responded coldly, "I killed Lelouch vi Brittania with my own two hands. That's impossible."

"That's true, but…" Kallen clenched her hands tightly, biting her lip as though to draw blood. "Lelouch had a partner, someone who… didn't die. What if he was like that... an…"

"Immortal?" Zero frowned deeply. That couldn't be, right? The pact, the Zero Requiem, that final moment… that was too real to be any kind of act. And C.C. was always somewhat against Lelouch giving his life- if she knew he was going to live past that, she wouldn't have been so hurt by it.

"Even if he was, what motive could he possibly have for acting now? Why not before? And why like this?" the questions felt like the desperation of someone needing to believe.

The Guren pilot shook her head. "I don't know. But at the very least, he asks that we look into his associates, any allies he had before…"

_Well I'm right here_, Zero thought sardonically, but banished it quickly. "The only one that comes to mind is Jeremiah Gottwald-san, and he's just an orange farmer living outside of the city…"

He trailed off.

Jeremiah Gottwald lived outside the city, with one Anya Earlstreim as his business partner and ward.

And, it just so happened that he had just seen a girl looking strikingly similar to Anya leaving the office, at the exact time the camera had gone down and the missing page had been stolen.

Abruptly, he turned on his heel and began striding quickly down the hallway. "I need Jeremiah Gottwald's address now. Call Gino, ask him if he's spoken to Anya recently," he instructed briskly, and pulled the small metal object from his pocket. "And get this to Lloyd-san- I think this is what took out the camera."

Kallen took the object, turning it over quizzically. "You know, I think I've seen this before…"

Zero turned towards her, mind still whirling with the realization that Anya could be involved in all of this, barely hearing her words.

"Where have I seen this before…" she mumbled. She wasn't very interested in mechanical objects, after all, the exception of course being her Guren-

Her eyes widened.

"This looks like the Gefjun disturbers that Rakshata-san created for the Black Knights! It's smaller, but I'd recognize it anywhere!" she turned it over again, biting her lip. "But why would this be here…"

Zero felt that terrible realization grow just a little bit more.

"Scratch that order to send it to Lloyd-san," he said quickly, "And send this and a message to Cornelia-san. She needs to head to Lloyd and Rakshata's research lab now… I think they're part of this."

"Why would they work with whoever's behind this?" Kallen asked, bewildered. "They've got nothing against us! They work for us!"

Because Lloyd and Cecile had been in on the Zero Requiem and apparently know something we don't, he answered silently, but said instead, "I don't know. But we need to get the truth."

He looked up, and beneath the mask a fire burned behind green eyes.

"And the first step to that is finding Jeremiah Gottwald."

00000

The shape, shrouded in a tattered and dirty brown cloak, shambled through the streets. It was hunched somewhat, giving the illusion of being smaller than it probably was, and yet it loomed before whatever it slithered towards, its gait that of something eldritch and horribly misshapen, as if its bones had bent at angles that nature could never have intended.

It moved with determined, terrible purpose. It did not hurry to whatever ill-fated place it intended to go, but shambled towards it with a relentless movement that gave the impression of a juggernaut, that would brush aside all things in its way as if they didn't even exist.

But worse were the eyes.

Unnatural, or perhaps supernatural, those orbs that flickered and sparked, a deep, bloody red, unwavering, unblinking. They didn't seem to see in the same way as normal eyes- they looked through the world, through _everything_, as if nothing existed before the inferno that dwelled in those eyes.

"There you are, monster."

That horrible shambling ceased.

Jeremiah Gottwald smirked to hide that terrible, horrible feeling that was sinking in his gut as he stared at the creature. The emotion of fear seemed too weak to describe what afflicted him at the current moment- everything about this thing spoke of unnatural, impossible things, that this was a being that should not exist in this world.

His retractable arm blade was held at the ready, and his every muscle screamed at him to strike before this abomination could destroy him.

A low, terrible rumble, like screams alone in the dark, echoed out from the monstrosity. It made no overt movements, but that unerring feeling that this abomination would destroy him seemed only to grow more and more.

"Can't even speak, I see," he observed, narrowing his eyes, despite every pore in his body begging him to flee. "Then let me introduce myself before this battle. I am Jeremiah Gottwald, knight of his Majesty, Emperor Lelouch. And you, undoubtedly, are the one who has distorted the peaceful world my liege died to create."

His hackles began to rise, anger filling his stomach, flooding out the fear. "You destroyed the Shiroda forward base, you sent the information to the media, and I am sure you even Geassed that poor soldier into shooting that young lad, to incite more chaos. I know not what you intend with this madness, but it matters not at this time."

The rumbling intensified, but Jeremiah was no coward to run from a fight, not when his very honor as a knight rested upon this duty. With a defiant cry, he leapt towards the beast.

"In the name of my master, I will erase you from this world!"

With prenatural speed, the abomination leapt aside, Jeremiah's blade slicing only empty space. Cursing, he turned, and lunged again, but, despite its hunched, misshapen appearance, the creature deftly stepped aside yet again.

_It's faster than me?_ Jeremiah's eyes widened as the monster rushed forward with devilish quickness.

However… despite its superior speed and reflexes, it had was untrained and lacked any kind of battle experience, it appeared, whereas Jeremiah was a career soldier who had survived countless battles up until this point.

Feinting left and allowing his opponent to follow his movements, the former knight changed directions and ducked right, lashing out with his other hand, curling it into a fist and striking dead center into the mass of the creature.

It stumbled back, giving Jeremiah time to bear with his slower arm blade and stab directly into the heart of the abomination, the metal sword piercing through the cloth of the cloak to sink into what was definitely flesh beneath. With a loud cry, he rushed forward with the creature impaled upon his arm blade, slamming it with impressive force against a nearby wall.

"And so it ends," Jeremiah muttered quietly, and looking pensive as he stared at the creature.

"… Jeremiah…"

Every nerve in his body felt electrified, every hair stood on end.

He knew that voice.

"Impossible," he breathed, muscles slackening in shock. "It can't be you…"

The face beneath the hood smirked, and without warning, Jeremiah was suddenly struck viciously in the chin, hurling him backwards bodily, his blade pushed out of the opponent's body.

Cursing, he pulled himself back to his feet, but by the time he righted himself, the creature was gone, without a trace.

00000

"Anya?" Gino blinked, holding the phone precariously in one hand as he continued issuing orders to secure a perimeter and lock down the base, "Yeah, she lives outside of Tokyo, last I checked… I talked to her… a week ago, I think?"

He gestured towards two soldiers, motioning them to take up the flanks with their Knightmares, keeping the main gate isolated. The rest of the teams worked to erect the chain link fence that would seal off the base.

"Did she say anything strange to you?" Kallen asked over the phone, sounding worried.

"Nothing stranger than usual," he replied, bewildered, before frowning and questioning worriedly, "Did something happen to her?"

"Zero says he might have seen her here, at the station, just before the diary page was stolen," Kallen informed in quietly. "And since our investigation is now looking into any old associates of Lelouch's, Jeremiah is at the top of the list… and Anya is his ward, giving Zero's suspicion a great deal of credibility."

"… you're sure?" Gino whispered, throat suddenly dry.

"Zero's fairly positive he saw her," she replied. "And these orders come from Ougi-san himself."

"Actually… now that I think about it, she did tell me 'to be careful'," the ex-Knight of Three muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "I didn't think much of it at the time, but she's not the type to say that carelessly… she'd only say it if she really thought there was a problem."

"Do you think that had something to do with what's happening now?" Kallen questioned.

"I guess we'll have to ask her," Gino gritted his teeth. "I'll be there as soon as possible-"

"You're not going anywhere, Gino," she responded flatly.

"Look, she's my friend, I need to talk to her. If she's done something wrong, I want to know!" he snapped, a low growl emanating from his throat.

"You've been ordered to secure the base, Gino," Kallen reminded him angrily, "What do you think would happen if the commander over there just took off? People would panic, and if they manage to find anything else at that base that could make this situation worse, then it won't matter if we catch the bad guys, because we'll be right back where we started!"

_At war_, Gino finished silently, shaking his head. "Right, sorry," he apologized quietly, before breaking out into a grin. "Thanks for the lecture, sweetheart."

The phone clicked.

He blinked, and chuckled. "She hung up on me."

00000

As he watched Kallen and Gino's phone call from afar, Zero briefly chuckled at the display of somewhat bemused irritation he could see on the redhead's face.

Say what you will about Gino Weinberg, but he was fairly good at being a bright spot in troubled times.

His mind, however, began to turn towards other, less cheerful topics.

Like the possibility of Lelouch being alive. If he was alive, then this… the Zero Requiem, all of it, was another scheme, another ploy.

His gut denied it. Lelouch had no lie in his eyes when he spoke about being prepared to die, and the charged feeling of that moment when he first slew Lelouch still lingered with him- the faint warmth of the blood on his gloved hands, Lelouch's slow breaths, the way he could feel the other man's heartbeat fading out like a dying star…

Too real, he told himself. He didn't know the specifics of how C.C.'s immortality work, but he seriously doubted it could feign death that well.

But then what the hell was Jeremiah doing? Why was he working in the shadows of this incident, if not for the sake of Lelouch Lamperouge, the man whom he had sworn loyalty enough to turn his back on his own country, even?

"Zero, I have Jeremiah Gottwald's address," Kallen informed him, breaking his reverie, and he suddenly realized how utterly exhausted she looked.

"You look tired, Kallen," Zero noted, before he could stop himself. Then again, it wasn't like he felt much better- since he'd stepped off the plane from Brittania he had been nonstop running about Tokyo, trying to contain this incident, without food or rest.

"I'm fine sir," she lied bald facedly, and they both knew it. "I want to get this mess resolved ASAP. My health doesn't matter."

Not when Lelouch could be alive. Not when this whole mess might be some sick joke by the supposedly dead Emperor of Brittania.

He understood her feelings clearly, but still, there was a time and place for self sacrifice. And Nunnally would need them all in top form for the coming storm…

Especially if their enemy was Lelouch Lamperouge.

"I'm not having you drop dead on this investigation, Major," Zero replied flatly, using her rank as a reminder of her duty to the Empire, to its people. "Whatever we may find at Jeremiah Gottwald's farm, I need you to be sharp for it. So get some rest. We'll leave in the morning."

Kallen opened her mouth to protest.

"Aw, Kallen, don't look so tense!" Milly suddenly interrupted, haphazardly draping herself over the redhead's shoulders, her face barely an inch from the other woman's. "Didn't I always tell you not to do too much?"

Zero resisted the urge to chuckle, but he smiled beneath the mask. "Very well then, Milly-san, I'll leave the Major to you. Major, I'll meet you outside the government building at eight o'clock sharp."

"W-wait, Zero!" Kallen began to protest, before Milly, in a display of surprising strength, brought the Guren's pilot into a headlock.

"You need to relax, Kallen! R-e-l-a-x," she said playfully, chuckling. "Now come on! My apartment isn't very far, you can stay with me!"

"I have my own apartment, Kaichou!"

"But this way, we can have a girl's sleepover!"

"We're not in high school anymore!"

"Aw, Kallen-chan! You're so cold!"

"Don't touch me there, damn it!"

And despite how dark and deadly everything seemed to be, despite what may happen come morning, Zero laughed. He couldn't help himself.

00000

Nunnally's eyes widened, and she shook visibly, hands gripping the sides of her wheelchair so hard her knuckles were white. She tried to speak, but her voice died in her throat.

Kaguya was pale as faint moonlight, and though her fists were clenched tight and trembling, she managed shakily, staring up at the viescreen, "Could you please repeat that, Ougi-san?"

"We're currently working under the assumption that this incident is a terrorist act perpetrated by allies of Lelouch, or possibly even Lelouch himself," the Prime Minister informed them slowly, sounding tired. "I believe that the power of Geass has been influencing these recent events, and Zero has collaborated with this story, stating that Anya Earlstreim, a known associate of Jeremiah Gottwald, has been seen at the corresponding time to when the diary page was stolen."

"But… Geass?" Kaguya murmured, wringing her hands worriedly. "That's a large jump from suspecting Lelouch's allies to stating that the man himself is alive when his death was something we all personally witnessed, Ougi-san."

"I know, Kaguya-sama, and I understand what you're saying," Ougi responded, dipping his head, "But how much do we really know about the Geass? We understood the basics of it, but who knows what kinds of secrets that power might have had? It's a possibility that I believe is worth looking into."

"I still don't know," the Chairwoman said doubtfully, chewing her lip. She didn't want to believe that now, after all this time, after having believed him to have had a core of decency, that Lelouch Lamperouge was in fact that same monster that they had painted him to be. "What do you think, Nunnally-san?"

Both eyes turned towards the Empress, whose own eyes were shut as she took a slow, steadying breath, exhaling quietly.

"I think that addressing this suspicion, regardless of its validity, is worth the time and effort," Nunnally answered softly, opening her eyes. "If my brother is behind this, then he must answer for it. And if he is innocent, I'd like that to be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. But please, tread softly, Ougi-san."

"I understand, Nunnally-sama," he said slowly, bowing his head. And with that, the transmission ended.

00000

Ougi let out a low, shaky breath, placing both hands on his desk in an attempt to steady himself. He hadn't slept much last night, too shaken by the idea that Lelouch Lamperouge and the Geass could still be active in this world, still manipulating and twisting it.

He hoped he was wrong. He prayed he was wrong.

Because if Lelouch really was still alive, and working against them… he wasn't sure if they could survive the second coming of the Demon Emperor. Last time, they had only been saved by the return of Zero, and that Ougi suspected all of that had been Lelouch's own plan, to a design only he truly understood.

A knock at his door broke his thoughts, and he looked up. It was probably Minami, he thought, checking up on him, even though he'd given his old friend the day off.

"Enter," he said tiredly.

But it wasn't Minami.

"Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideyoshi," Ougi greeted warily, straightening himself as he did so. "What can I do for you?"

Hideyoshi Ieyasu was the face of the conservative party, young and dynamic, popular amongst the people. He was a only a few years older than Ougi himself, making him fairly young for such a prominent government member, and was a former member of the Japanese Liberation Front who had been captured and imprisoned in Brittania until the end of the war. He didn't particularly like Hideyoshi, but the man was well liked amongst the populace and Ougi needed to elect a conservative to his cabinet in order to pacify that faction.

What made him more wary were the two uniformed guards, not of the Black Knights, who stood behind Hideyoshi, looking stern.

"Prime Minister Ougi Kaname," Hideyoshi said slowly, a sly smile on his face. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

And as he spoke his next words, Ougi felt the whole world slip away from him, and suddenly the possible return of the Demon Emperor seemed to be the lesser of his problems.

00000

The silence following Ougi's transmission was like the depths of the sea, deep and dark and crushing, strangling all warmth from the air.

"Nunnally-san…" Kaguya began worriedly, turning towards the Empress. "I-"

Her voice trailed off as Nunnally broke into a small sob, and the Chairwoman of the UN suddenly realized how badly the other woman was shaking.

Slowly, hesitantly, she placed a hand over Nunnally's own, and gently squeezed it.

'It'll be alright', she wanted to say, but there was a deep part of her that she was ashamed to admit that did not believe that.

Before she could speak, an insistent chirp began buzzing throughout the room, indicating another incoming transmission, startling both women.

_What now? _They both thought helplessly, hopelessly.

"Nunnally-sama, Kaguya-sama… there's been a development," came Schneizel's voice, over the intercom.

"In the investigation? I thought Zero-sama and Kallen-chan hadn't reached Jeremiah Gottwald's farm yet," Kaguya said slowly, frowning.

"No, not in the investigation… it's Japan," he replied tonelessly.

"What about Japan?" Nunnally questioned, a dread chill running down her spine.

Schneizel's voice was grave. "Ten minutes ago, the National Diet of Japan proposed a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Ougi-san, as well as a motion to secede from the Empire."

"That's ridiculous!" Kaguya exclaimed, sounding furious. "On what grounds!"

"They're charging the Prime Minister with not having the interests of the country at heart, that his… ties to Brittania make him unsuitable to lead their country," he answered, hesitating noticeably over the word 'ties'.

"They're saying his wife and children are tainting his sympathies!" the Chairwoman's eyes narrowed darkly, an unusual expression for the normally cheerful 'goddess'. "That's ridiculous! They're just mudslinging! They've said all this before, back when he was elected and even after that, so what makes this so different that they're going to throw him out of office!"

Schneizel's voice remained unaffected, sounding distant, like an observer, thanks to the Geass. "Maybe so, but the current sympathies of the country gave them enough impetus to get the motion passed. They'll be putting it to a vote tomorrow."

To that, Kaguya could only fume silently, furious with her own beloved countrymen for such a low act, to use a man's family against him.

"… and the motion to secede?" Nunnally whispered, sounding tired and afraid.

"They state that it is their right to decide whether or not to be part of the Empire, and that Brittania's current government holds the responsibility for the crimes of the old." Schneizel paused, and continued, "This motion is held with more mixed feelings than the vote of no confidence, mind you, and is mostly backed by the diehard conservative faction in the Diet. They'll likely try to pass the vote of no confidence first, and then elect a conservative to the Prime Minister post to help pass the motion to secede."

Kaguya was white as a sheet, shaking with a mixture of indignant anger and frustration. "What word from the Black Knights?" she breathed deeply, struggling to reign in her emotions, to keep a clear head.

"No word from Toudou-san, who the conservatives are likely hoping will come to their side. Cornelia has left France and is already in Japan, and is going to take command of our forces there to help suppress the riots… but I believe any further military force would be ill advised," he informed them, his words making the room feel colder and smaller, almost oppressive.

"I agree," Nunnally said shakily, sounding badly distressed but struggling to hold it all in. "Force of arms can only escalate this conflict, not resolve it. If we force down Japan, we'll only repeat the mistakes of my father and the previous Brittanian Empire."

She closed her eyes, still trembling.

"Everything rests now on Zero and Kallen's investigation."

00000

"This is the place?" Zero questioned, glancing towards Kallen, who nodded.

"I've never been here myself, but this is the address Gino gave me," she replied, gazing warily about. It seemed peaceful enough, judging by the idyllic countryside and vast orange groves they drove through to get here. The house itself was fairly large, moreso by Japanese standards, a bit more than one man and his ward could feasibly need, really…

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

"Zero," she said quietly, and he nodded. Slowly, they circled about each other until they were back to back, glancing to and fro about themselves.

Her hand strayed to her sidearm, and the feeling increased.

"Come out, whoever you are!" Zero ordered briskly, trying to emulate the regal aura of command that Lelouch could generate at a whim. "We are here on orders of her majesty Empress Nunnally Lamperouge, and demand to speak with Jeremiah Gottwald!"

"I know why you're here, Zero-sama," a smooth, feminine voice answered, and abruptly, the lithe figure of Shinozaki Sayoko stood in front of them, smiling cordially, bowing her head slightly. "We've been expecting you both."

Despite the rather genial welcome, Kallen's bad feeling only kept getting worse.

"And how did you know we were coming? Or, more to the point, why, exactly, were you expecting us?" she asked slowly, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. "

Sayoko's expression did not change. "All questions will be answered in time," she responded politely, opening the door to the house and gesturing for them to enter. "Please, come inside. We have much to discuss, and time is running out for all of us."

Kallen glanced over at Zero, who betrayed none of the apprehension she felt. She wanted to ask him what he was thinking, what he believed they should do, but something kept her quiet, out of fear that if she voiced these questions their uncertainty could be read as weakness.

_What are you trying to do, Lelouch?_ Zero wondered, biting his lip tightly. He had thought he'd understood his friend these past few years, but in just a few short hours he was beginning to wonder if he'd ever really known him.

Slowly, determinedly, Zero strode into the house, and Kallen followed, both of them wondering if they had just walked straight into the middle of a trap.

Sayoko followed them in, and shut the door behind them, stepping past them as she did so.

"Jeremiah-san is waiting for you. Please, follow me," the ninja maid bowed her head again, and began walking through the living room, navigating the house with the practiced ease of someone who had lived there a very long time.

Kallen's apprehension only increased, and she took the time to study her surroundings, praying this wasn't a set up. It was fairly, almost weirdly idyllic, with odd knickknacks and a few photos arranged in a rather haphazard manner- likely due to its two occupants being an older man who was formerly a career soldier and… well, Anya.

They were led past several rooms, including the kitchen, until they were deep into the house. There, at the end of a long hallway, stood a fairly standard wooden door.

"Here we are," Sayoko said softly, causing both Kallen and (unseen, of course) Zero to blink in surprise.

Before they could question her, the ninja-maid removed a large silver key from her pocket, inserting it into the keyhole and twisting it carefully. It swung open to reveal something decidedly atypical for a mere orange farmer to be having- a large steel door, looking to be at least half an inch thick, with no sign of an opening.

"It requires a passcode," she explained without prompt, and stepped towards the newly opened wooden door. She pushed on a part of the door, right in the middle, which slid off to reveal a false panel with a small datapad inside- again, not exactly standard equipment for a mere farmer to have.

Kallen gave Zero a wary look. What exactly were they getting themselves into, anyways?

If Sayoko noticed their discomfort, she failed to show it, punching in the buttons with practiced ease, another subtle sign that she was a regular occupant of this house… which was clearly more than a simple farm.

She couldn't take it anymore.

"Look, I'm not going a step further until you tell us something!" Kallen snapped. Only the shred of self control she held onto kept her from pulling her handgun on the older woman.

"Kallen, wait-" Zero began, placing a restraining hand on her shoulder, but before he could finish, Sayoko turned back towards them, still as placid as before.

"As promised, you shall have your answers now."

With a ghostly shudder, the door slide aside to reveal a smiling Jeremiah Gottwald, who bowed at the waist.

"Zero, Kouzuki Kallen," he greeted cordially, "We've been expecting you."

"I'm getting real sick of people saying that!" Kallen snapped, hand once again wrapped around the hilt of her pistol. "We came here for answers! Why was Anya at the television station yesterday! What are you planning! And goddamnit, why were you expecting us!

Zero couldn't help but agree with her frustration, though he squeezed her shoulder tightly to force her to calm down.

"She's correct, Jeremiah," he said slowly, fixing his masked gaze upon the knight. "I'd like to know the answers to these questions myself."

Jeremiah nodded, seemingly nonplussed by the level of aggression and suspicion being leveled at him.

"Of course you have many questions, and I will do my best to answer them to the best of my ability," he replied calmly. "Firstly, Anya was there on my orders, to make sure no damaging evidence remained in the diary. We've been working to solve this case as well, from our own angle, but now we have reached a standstill… there is a problem."

"What sort of problem?" Zero asked, a dark feeling welling in his gut.

"It would be best if I left the explanations to someone more suitable. If you would follow me, you will have your answer." The knight bowed his head and stepped into the dimly lit hallway that laid beyond the newly opened door. "He is the one who told us you would be coming."

"And who exactly is this all-knowing someone?" Kallen asked suspiciously, taking a slow step inside the hallway, hand never leaving her sidearm.

Jeremiah turned towards her with a bemused look, as it were obvious.

"Why, Lelouch-sama, of course."

Author's Notes

The title of this chapter is kind of a mocking tone to the previous chapter's quote, but is entirely my own creation, referencing both the abomination Jeremiah fights and the fact that Lelouch's shadow reigns over this chapter.

Hideyoshi Ieyasu is a nod to two different historical figures in Japanese history, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, the Shoguns who succeeded Oda Nobunaga. Just another fun fact- look them up if you've got the time, they're both interesting figures in history.


	3. Part III: Secrets Flame

Author's Note: This is not an update- I've been debating this for a while, and after hearing from several readers about how the length of the chapters was more problem than benefit, I've broken up the previous two chapters into four. Next chapter will be out sooner now, however, as I'll be keeping these chapters shorter. I also inserted author's notes into previous chapters, in case anyone's interested.

Part III: In Your Darkest Hour, I Hold Secrets Flame

_"More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly."_

-Woody Allen

There was not a word spoken as they followed Jeremiah and Sayoko deeper into the depths of the underground complex beneath his home, past numerous rooms that neither Kallen nor Zero paid any mind to as they navigated dimly lit corridors and stairs, barely even noticing that this facility was much larger than they hadu suspected.

What could they say, after all, in the wake of Jeremiah's shocking revelation. Was Lelouch Lamperouge, the former Emperor of Brittania and the original Zero, truly waiting for them at the end of this hallway?

Had everything until this point been some kind of game for him? Watching as those few who knew the truth grieved and moved on, all the while waiting for his chance to return?

For Kallen, it meant facing the man she loved again, whose death hurt only marginally less than when she thought he betrayed her. What could she say to him? Should she be angry that he deceived her, yet again? Or relieved?

For Zero, it meant facing the man he killed, his best friend, who apparently didn't even believe enough in his own philosophy to sacrifice his life. Was Lelouch truly that low as to remain a hypocrite to the bitter end?

They came at last to a metal door, at the end of the hallway.

"This way, please," Jeremiah said, opening the door, gesturing for them to enter.

Steeling themselves, Kallen and Zero stepped into the room.

What they found was not quite what they expected. The room was well lit, unlike the hallway, but was otherwise rather bare, featuring only a few metal chairs facing a rather dominating screen and keypad.

"A computer?" Kallen blinked, feeling somewhat let down- but then again, she was expecting to see someone thought to be dead.

"What are you playing at Jeremiah?" Zero asked slowly, an unmistakable edge in his filtered voice.

Instead of answer, Jeremiah stepped past them, towards the computer, and removed a packaged and sealed disc from his pocket.

"This is for you," he said quietly, holding it out to Zero, placing it in the other man's gloved hands. "I was told to give it to you, should something like this ever occur."

"Told by Lelouch?" Zero asked without thinking, sounding stunned.

Jeremiah nodded. "I was left with very specific instructions. He said that should the day arrive when a crisis like this occurs, that you, Zero, would come looking for me, and that I was to present you with this disc." He gestured towards the computer. "You can access it from here."

Zero glanced over at Kallen, who seemed bewildered by the entire situation. With a hesitant stride, he stepped towards the computer, removed the disc, and inserted it into the slot.

After a few moments of waiting, a prompt screen appeared.

_ Password?_ , it asked, a short dialogue text box sitting beneath the question.

He gave Jeremiah a look.

The knight shrugged, absurdly casual for what should have been a rather tense scene. "He said you would know."

Zero bit his lip, wondering at this. Lelouch had never mentioned any kind of secret password between them, other than the hand signs that made up their secret language, but that wasn't translatable here.

Hesitantly, he typed _Zero_.

The machine beeped once. _Incorrect Password_, the program responded.

He tried something else. _Nunnally._

Another beep, another rejection of the password.

_Zero Requiem._

Nothing.

He glanced back towards Jeremiah. "Are you sure he didn't say anything else about the password? What did he say exactly about it?"

Jeremiah paused, as if unsure, but Sayoko stepped in then, a contemplative look on her face.

"He said that this password would be known to you… that it was be something dear to you both, I believe," Sayoko stated, though she seemed unsure. "He seemed insistent on the phrasing of his words… emphasizing you, especially."

"You, especially? What the heck does he mean by that…" Kallen muttered, rubbing her temples frustratedly. "Who else could he be referring to? You're not two people, for God's sake… who else is going to hear this message?"

"Two people…" Zero breathed softly.

But he was, wasn't he?

He was Zero… but he was also-

He froze at that. You… as in… not the mask, but the man beneath the mask, the man who was an entirely different person than the mask of Zero.

It was a password known to Kururugi Suzaku, in other words. Something dear to both Kururugi Suzaku and Lelouch Lamperouge…

He'd already tried Nunnally, which was likely too obvious anyways. What could it be…

Their friends at Ashford seemed too flimsy a guess. They were precious, yes, but the same could be said of others, even Kaguya, as someone they both held some affection for. It was something plain, something that Lelouch would have expected him to understand and know, instinctively, as if it were dear to his heart…

The answer came like a lightning bolt, and the name escaped his lips without even thinking about it.

"What was that?" Kallen blinked, turning towards Zero, unsure of what she'd heard.

Instead of answering, as if in a trance, Zero reached towards keyboard, and typed out six letters, no spaces.

_Euphie. _

An unconscious smile lit up his face, and he was rewarded as the computer hummed softly, displaying _Password Accepted_ on the screen, before it faded, and the screen came to life.

And upon that screen, a familiar smirk.

"It's been a long time, Zero, Kallen," Lelouch Lamperouge said slowly, sounding oddly pleased with himself as he settled into a red clothed, gold rimmed chair, clad in the familiar robes of the Emperor. He leaned forward and smiled.

"How are you?"

00000

There were some who questioned the intelligence of placing the proverbial think tank of Knightmare Frame and other advanced technology, including the infamous FLEIJA, in such a small island nation such as Japan, which had only recently regained its status and become a member-state of the Neo Brittanian Empire. They claimed favoritism by the new government, whose command structure had a great deal of former members of the original Black Knights, who had fought for Japan and indeed mainly hailed from the country. It was too dangerous, they criticized, to leave such an invaluable resource in a newly formed country that had once been an enemy.

Logically, however, it was the correct choice, as Japan was still the world's number one provider of Sakuradite, that precious resource that made much of modern warfare possible, and without a plentiful supply the projects that this group worked on would simply not work.

Diplomatically as well, it held advantages- it was a display of trust from Brittania to Japan, and eased the minds of the other member-states of the new empire, as Brittania's homeland was not containing the most dangerous minds on the planet, indicating that they were not secretly attempting to rebuild the terrifying armies that had once dominated the theater of war.

However, the simple truth was that Rakshata Chawla had already sworn never to go back to Brittania, Lloyd Asplund wasn't willing to be left out of any more interesting projects that she created, and Nina Einstein had made a promise to herself to stay in Japan and atone for the sins she had committed against their people by creating the FLEIJA weapon.

As for Cecile Croomy… well, she couldn't exactly let Lloyd and Rakshata be in the same room without a mediator, and lord knows poor Nina wasn't up to the task of making sure the two didn't murder each other every other hour.

They were an invaluable resource to the empire, innovators and geniuses, visionaries… and now, apparently, at least one of them might very well be a traitor as well. And if so, this threat might very well be bigger than they had ever imagined.

The thought of those four turning against the empire frightened Cornelia more than she cared to admit, considering they were the creators of the three most powerful weapons in the world, from the Lancelot Albion, to the Guren S.E.I.T.E.N. Eight Elements, and of course, the FLEIJA bomb.

With their collective intellect, just accidentally destroying the Earth wasn't exactly out of the realm of possibility. The intention to destroy would make them akin to the four harbingers of the apocalypse itself.

Which was why she had chosen to visit them personally rather than send a proxy, leaving Guilford in charge of things while she was away.

She steeled herself as she stepped into the four's shared laboratory, flanked by a squad of Black Knights (the irony of her, of all people, leading such a team was not lost on her). Her gaze swept through the complicated mess of steel and glass and computers, easily spotting the four in question.

If they had been expecting her, if they had any anxiety about having aided forces that were working against the Neo Brittanian Empire, and would therefore be considered traitors to the crown under penalty of death or imprisonment… they completely failed to show it.

"You're a single celled cretin with all the scientific ability of a half dead rodent!" Rakshata snapped, grabbing a muffin and hurling it with impressive velocity.

Lloyd ducked behind one of the workbenches, and the pastry missile veritably exploded against a nearby wall, showering the floor with crumbs. Glancing back, he shot her a smarmy grin and blew a most unbecoming raspberry, especially for an Earl. "You're just mad that my adjustments were what made the experiment successful!"

The creator of the Guren narrowed her eyes, her demeanor akin to a tiger about to tear the throat out of its prey. "Your adjustments also destroyed the test model, you ignorant sack of crap!"

This time, she threw the plate at him, but this too missed, and Cornelia actually had to step aside to avoid being hit by the shattered remnants.

"We can make more, Rakshata-san," Nina reminded her quietly, trying to tug at the older woman's sleeve, but the Indian woman paid her no mind.

"It's the principle of the thing!" she muttered, crossing her arms in a huff. "How are these things supposed to work in the field if they blow up after one use!"

Cornelia attempted to cough, but she was drowned out as a second bout of verbal and physical warfare began. She shifted, wondering if she should send in her squad to break up the fight, but the men behind her actually seemed rather afraid to get involved with the two clearly deranged scientists.

"You'll have to actually step in and interrupt them, Cornelia-sama," came a gentle suggestion, and she turned to see Cecile Croomy smiling placidly, watching the fight from afar with the same kind of accepting expression you usually see from saints. "I'm afraid they'll never notice you otherwise."

The former princess gave the other woman a scrutinizing look- wasn't she concerned at all that the Commander of the Black Knights Police Division was at their door with a squad of armed men?

Cecile merely continued smiling, and motioned to the plate of freshly made onigiri on her plate. "I made some peanut butter onigiri today. If you'd like, please, try some. There's enough for everyone."

Cornelia shook her head, somewhat queasy just considering what that dish might taste like. "No… I'm fine," she refused politely, and then spoke in a louder, commanding voice, "Enough of this! Lloyd Asplund, Rakshata Chawla, by order of her majesty Empress Nunnally Lamperouge, you have been ordered to comply with our investigation in the destruction of the Shiroda forward base. If you resist or hinder our investigation in any way, I have been authorized to use force."

"Oooh, scary!" Lloyd chirped, and sounded not the least bit terrified as he smiled and turned towards them.

"This is serious you bird brained moron!" Rakshata snapped, striking him on the shoulder, hard.

"Now now, don't get your panties in a twist, Rakshata_-chan_," Lloyd teased, rubbing his shoulder with a wince.

"Enough!" Cornelia interrupted loudly, stamping her foot down. "It's come to our attention that a group that may be working against the Empire has acquired some rather advanced technology… your technology."

And with that, she held out her hand, holding out the miniature Gefjun Disturber that Zero had found.

"Well, that certainly looks like one of ours," Lloyd began whimsically, peering at the device-

"You mean one of _mine_!" Rakshata cut in, glaring daggers at the Earl. "God damn it, I knew one of them was missing!"

"So you're saying it was Asplund who supplied Anya Earlstreim with the device?" Cornelia questioned, narrowing her eyes.

Instead of answering, Rakshata just kept on berating the silver haired man. "I told you to tell me if you were going to take one of my creations! The personal Gefjun Disturber units aren't toys you can take at a whim, you damn Pudding Earl!"

Nina stepped forward tentatively, timidly raising her hand. "Um… Rakshata-san… I was the one who took it."

All eyes swiveled toward the youngest occupant of the room, and the poor girl seemed to wilt before the attention.

"_You_ gave the former Knight of Six that device?" Cornelia said incredulously, eyes widening. Of all the people in that room, she would have thought Nina Einstein would have the least amount of reason to side with Lelouch and the Geass. "Why?"

"Perhaps we'd better explain," Cecile interrupted, and Nina looked grateful for her intervention. Smiling placidly, she turned towards the former Princess of Brittania. "Would you mind sending the guards out of the room? This is a matter of national security, I'm afraid…"

"Loose lips sink ships!" Lloyd chimed in, chuckling.

Cecile gave him a stern warning look, and he shrank back down.

Cornelia paused, unsure of herself. Finally, after a few moments of debate, she reluctantly nodded towards the squad, motioning for them to wait outside.

After they had left, Cecile smiled and gestured towards a chair. "You may want to sit down for this, Cornelia-sama."

"I'll stand, thank you," Cornelia replied coolly, crossing her arms.

"Suit yourself!" Lloyd commented cheerily.

Five minutes later, Cornelia was sitting in that chair and wishing it was a bed.

00000

Zero couldn't believe it. He licked his lips once, unconsciously, and began slowly, "Lelouch, just what-"

"Of course, I say how are you, but in reality, I cannot actually hear your responses, as this is merely a recording," Lelouch suddenly continued, his familiar smirking growing on his face as he folded his hands, elbows propped up against the arms of his chair. "I merely thought to be polite."

"A recording?" Kallen yelled loudly, blinking wildly.

"Yes, Kallen, a recording," Lelouch answered without hesitation. "I merely respond and speak according to how I predict you will respond to this recording."

"Then how the hell did he know I would be here? Wasn't this addressed to Zero?" she muttered rebelliously, crossing her arms.

"As for how I knew Kallen would be here," the Emperor continued pleasantly, "I merely considered what conditions might trigger the need for this recording to fall into Zero's hands, and thus realized that Kallen would undoubtedly become entangled in this affair as well, as it concerns the fate of all of us."

He seemed to look directly at her as he continued warmly, "I would expect nothing less from you, Kallen."

She flushed despite herself, and was reminded that Lelouch had quite the silver tongue, back in the days before he began using Geass as a hammer rather than a cloak and dagger to solve his problems.

Lelouch smiled for a moment longer, and then it faded and he was all business again. "As such, I have prepared this recording with Kallen's presence in mind. If she is not there, then I would ask that you relay the contents of this message to her, as I have a task for her."

Kallen opened her mouth to question exactly what that task was, but was interrupted.

"I'll get to that task in a moment, Kallen," Lelouch answered without prompt, and his smile faded for a moment and a more serious look settled on his face. "First things first. Zero, please remove your mask. If Kallen isn't yet aware of your identity, she must be made aware of it now in order for things to continue. I will give you a few moments to do this."

Zero stood still in shock. When he was observing the exchange between Kallen and Lelouch, he unconsciously started smiling, a pleasant mood taking him. But now that mood was gone.

Remove the mask?

What was Lelouch thinking? He glanced up at the screen, where Lelouch remained poised and silent, giving him an expectant stare.

He sighed. He had trusted Lelouch this far, so why not?

Slowly, hesitantly, he reached up, hands grasping the recessed pressure releases and pushed them, the mask receding over the back of his head first, revealing chestnut brown hair and skin that, while still somewhat tan, was far paler than it had been originally. With a hint of reluctance, he freed himself from the dark confine of the mask, pulled down the cloth mouth covering, and the face of Kururugi Suzaku was revealed.

Kallen, for her part, seemed almost impassive.

"You don't seem surprised," Suzaku said, forcing a bit of humor into his voice to help with the situation.

"I think I always knew," she answered softly, avoiding his eyes. "I just never wanted to find out for sure."

The silence lingered on, uncomfortable and heavy, like a great weight that couldn't be balanced.

"I'll assume you have finished. If so, welcome back, Suzaku," Lelouch began again, blessedly breaking the silence. "Now, we can begin. Let me begin by outlining the situation as I have predicted it to be. First, there has been a great tragedy of some sort, some kind of incident that would inevitably drive a wedge between Japan and Brittania. After this, events have begun to occur which deepen that division between Japan and Brittania, inciting the flames of war, dividing the world yet again. And one way or another, these events have led you to implicating my hand or at least the hand of Geass in these matters."

Suzaku and Kallen both swallowed, unable to speak, absolutely stunned by the accuracy with which Lelouch had outlined the events of the past few days. It had been a long time since they had borne witness to the genius intellect that had brought the world to its knees.

"I'll assume I'm correct, because if I'm not then you should shut down this recording immediately because everything following this is useless," Lelouch continued briskly. "Allow me, then, to confirm something for you."

He paused, fixing them with his gaze that, even digital, conveyed the powerful, captivating intensity of his eyes.

"There is a Geass involved, but it is not mine."

Silence dominated the room.

Kallen felt sick.

Suzaku just narrowed his eyes, feeling a familiar anger towards the nefarious power that had taken so much from him.

"More will be explained at a later time," Lelouch said, somewhat hurriedly, and Jeremiah seemed to shift uncomfortably, "For now, I will give you the information you need. First, you should know that, prior to my death, I had wiped out the organization behind the Geass as well as the majority of the known Geass users. At Kaminejima, I killed two more Geass users- my father, and my mother. The last other known Geass user, Bismark Waldstein, died at your hands, Suzaku."

Suzaku nodded in easy acceptance, having personally witnessed that last two events, but for Kallen it was a new, shocking revelation- she had never known exactly what transpired that day when the previous Emperor of Brittania disappeared on Kaminejima.

Likely knowing how Kallen would take that statement, Lelouch amended, "Let me assure you, Kallen, that it was necessary. Suzaku can inform you of the exact details, but the short version is that they desired to end the world as we know it today, through the use of a system just as cruel and oppressive as the Damocles itself. But, back to the matter at hand."

He crossed his legs, straightening as he continued.

"At the time when I challenged Schneizel for control of the world, I believed I had eliminated all known cases of Geass in this world, except for myself, and that would be resolved in due time as well."

He gave her an unreadable look, pursing his lips as he did so, and there was a brief moment of hesitation that was apparent on his face. It spoke volumes, especially considering Lelouch's masterful control of himself. "As you may have suspected, Kallen, I planned for Suzaku to take up the mantle of Zero and kill me at an appointed day, after I had completely subjected the world and taken its hatred upon myself. It was a plan we entitled the Zero Requiem."

Kallen nodded distantly as if in a trance, eyes wide- suspect or not, to have it actually confirmed that Lelouch had willingly sacrificed his good name and his own life for world peace was still a shock.

Lelouch leaned forward, resting his chin atop his folded hands, looking grave. "When I planned the Zero Requiem, I factored in every threat to the new world that could exist. The Brittanian nobility was no more, stripped of their power and the most militant of them crushed into dust before my armies in the initial stages of the Zero Requiem. The forces loyal to my father had rallied behind remaining Knights of Round and had been dispatched handily by you, Suzaku. Schneizel would be subverted by my Geass and become a great asset. The rest of the nations of the world were already united in peace beneath the banner of the UFN. Any other dissident faction that remained hated me so much they would gladly swear allegiance to anyone else. Only one variable remained unknown to me… one I'm sure you can guess."

"Geass," Suzaku spat, like a curse, and Lelouch nodded as if he could hear the response.

"I had already wiped out all other Geass users save myself, and the only person who could pass on the Geass had already promised me she would never do such a thing again." Lelouch narrowed his eyes, and his lip curled in visible frustration.

"And yet, I remained troubled. Where did the Geass actually originate from, I wondered. Geass users gain their powers from immortals, who were past Geass users who took the Code of their own contractor. But that was a self repeating cycle… there had to be an origin point, an incident that gave rise to the first Geass and the first immortal who passed it on."

Lelouch frowned deeply, sighing into his folded hands. "Unfortunately, the Geass Order had no record of such a thing. Their knowledge of the origins of the Geass only dated back to the beginning of the empire, and they were far more interested in experiments and applications of it than they were with the origins of the power itself. And when I ascended to the throne, I gained access to my father's own private research as well, hidden in the archives. And while it was certainly more detailed than the records I had managed to recover from the Geass Order, it too answered none of my questions."

He tensed visibly and his brow furrowed, the very picture of a man troubled by a dark vision.

"And therein laid the problem… how could I be sure the peaceful world that the Zero Requiem envisioned would not be twisted and tainted by the Geass again?"

Suzaku and Kallen were silent still, absolutely captivated by Lelouch's words, waiting on his next words.

"To this end, I tasked Jeremiah, Sayoko, and a few others to form a group dedicated to watching for and wiping out any Geass-related threats from the shadows. This is why they have been acting in the shadows of this incident- they are under my orders. And now, I am tasking you two to aid us in this matter, to destroy the threat of Geass before everything is undone."

"How?" Kallen questioned, speaking without thinking. "How are we supposed to do that?"

"I will begin by outlining the steps need to be taken in order to resolve this crisis," Lelouch answered slowly, uncrossing his legs and leaning back against his chair. "First, Suzaku, you must return to Tokyo. If everything proceeded as I predicted, then Ougi should be Prime Minister of Japan, am I correct?"

He paused as though he could actually hear them and was awaiting a response. "I hope I am, in any case. By this point in the crisis, the government of Japan will be making a vote of no confidence in Ougi. You, Suzaku, as Zero, must endorse Ougi and do your best to sway the vote in his favor. If he is out of office then containing the hostilities between Japan and Brittania will become vastly more difficult, especially since there is a good chance Japan will attempt to secede from the union with Brittania."

"Secede?" Kallen rolled the word over in her tongue, feeling a weight down in her gut. "That's crazy."

"It's true," Sayoko interrupted softly. "We just got word of it this morning. Lelouch-sama's prediction is accurate."

"Which means that the Black Knights' loyalties will be divided," Suzaku concluded, voice subdued. "Brittania's army split into the camps supporting Japan and Brittania."

Lelouch's voice continued over the silence.

"After securing Ougi's position, your next step will be to track down the source of this problem. However, to go to where it is likely hiding, you will need help," he explained, and leaned forward. "And that is where the task I mentioned I had for Kallen comes in."

She straightened as she heard her name, and distantly realized that her willingness to follow Lelouch's orders hadn't quite left her.

"Kallen, while Zero is securing Ougi's position and keeping things under control in Tokyo, you must seek out the one person who can help us resolve this crisis. She's rather hard to find, and I know for a fact she intends to disappear after my death, but I have no doubt you can locate her- in fact, I believe you may be one of the few she will actually_ allow_ to find her." A faint crease of a smile appeared on Lelouch's face, and he chuckled somewhat fondly. "All you need do is follow the smell of pizza."

"C.C.," Kallen breathed softly.

Of course. Who better to stop the threat of Geass than the one person who knew more about it than anyone else alive or dead?

"She will know why you've come," he continued briskly. "I have already spoken with her about the possibility of this incident occurring, and she will know what to do once you've found her. Trust her, Kallen."

She briefly wondered at that. Lelouch never said something like that carelessly- there had to be a reason he was asking her to affirm her faith in C.C.

Her thoughts were broken as he flashed a brief, warm smile, and somehow, they all knew that he was about to bid them farewell.

And somehow, it was almost as difficult as the last time he went from their lives.

"I hope you've gotten all that down, because this message will purge and delete itself after this recording ends," he suddenly said jokingly, and chuckled, a hint of self depreciation in his voice as he did so. "I can't let any evidence that I was anything less than a monster be hanging around, after all."

"Lelouch…" Kallen began, her throat closing up and her eyes stinging with hot, unshed tears, even though she knew it was just a recording, a oneway conversation. "I…"

"For what it's worth, I never meant to hurt you, Kallen," Lelouch said softly, his eyes warm and a small, genuine smile on his face that spoke of things he did not want, or could not, say.

It faded after a moment, like the last flash of sunlight before dusk, and he seemed to be looking away from her then.

Suzaku straightened, knowing that the next words were for him.

"Suzaku, I know the years since we began have not been easy for you… but know that I have always had faith that you can make Zero into the hero the world deserves, that you will be the paragon of justice I could only pretend to be. You're a good man, Suzaku, and a better friend than I ever was to you… a better friend than I deserved. I am honored to have known you." Lelouch offered him the kind of smile that had grown scarcer and scarcer since the days when they were children- an honest one.

"Sayoko, Jeremiah, thank you for your loyalty," he continued gently. "It meant more than you may know."

Jeremiah saluted. Sayoko bowed deeply. Both of them didn't seem to trust their words.

Lelouch paused then, just staring out from the screen, as if he could really see them, that this was not just a digital recording but a true conveyance of the living, breathing man.

But it was an illusion only.

His features flickered, and for a moment, Suzaku swore he saw regret in Lelouch's eyes. A deep regret, like a man who wasn't sure if he had just made one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

A look Lelouch only wore when he was about to do something that could potentially hurt the people he love- or had already done.

But then it was gone, and Suzaku wasn't quite sure if he hadn't just imagined it.

"Good luck, my friends," he whispered, and the screen went black.

00000

The United Nations Council was the new Brittanian Empire's second most powerful political organization, created during the initial treaties which merged the existing Brittanian Empire with the United Federation of Nations, in order to counterbalance the monarchial power that would be held by the Empress, with the power to, by vote, veto a decision made by the Empress as well to pass motions of their own. In effect, it was the original UFN's body, merely transplanted into the overall governmental body of Brittania, acting as a parliamentary system within the Empire.

It was made up of representatives from several chosen member-nations of the Empire, elected from the general body of the nations of the Empire, and was chaired by Kaguya, the previous Chairwoman of the UFN and its civilian leader, the natural choice for such a position. Members of the council included Empress Tianzi, who was perhaps their staunchest ally at this current moment. Ougi too held a Council seat, but seeing as how he was currently in the process of being voted out of office, he was unavailable and thus his screen was empty.

"Thank you for assembling on such short notice, honored members of the Council," Nunnally greeted softly, facing the assembled screens with as much royal dignity as she could muster. "I wish these circumstances were less trying."

After they echoed her greeting, the representative from France, one Nicolas De Gaulle, a former power player of the Euro Universe who managed to regain much of his status after his country regained its independence, spoke.

"Empress, what exactly are the Black Knights intending to do in the wake of this incident?" he asked slowly, furrowing his graying eyebrows. He was one of the oldest members on the Council, well respected amongst them, with a great deal of political clout and support. Influencing his opinion would be crucial to stabilizing the empire.

The question within the question was audible to everyone.

Was Brittania going to use force to settle this issue, as it had so many times in the past?

"Commander in Chief Xingke is placing our forces on standby. I believe that even small displays of force will only serve to upset the situation further," Nunnally answered. "And so I have asked all our forces to remain as they are, except for the Police forces, who have been instructed to remain as a strictly peacekeeping force in Japan, to guarantee the safety of our citizens. They are not, under any circumstances, to strike against Japan in any way."

"Commander Xingke seems to be rather ill as of late, and the stress of these recent events, we have heard, has been weakening his already failing health," Nicolas continued to press, pursing his lips. "Are you sure it is wise to leave the command of our military forces in the hands of a man on death's door? Especially in light of recent events, when so many of our forces are… divided."

Tianzi paled, and her small, slight frame visibly trembled with anger even through the screen that displayed her face. She opened her mouth to speak, but Kaguya met her eyes and shook her head once, quickly.

Now wasn't the time for personal battles.

"Xingke-san is the best military strategist we possess," Kaguya cut in coolly. "We have no one as capable to replace him… especially with these recent events."

"We do not doubt the Commander's ability, only his condition," came the soft alto of the representative from Ethiopia, who folded her hands with a passive look.

"What of the Chief of Staff, General Toudou?" asked the Russian representative, frowning. "As a known Japanese nationalist, his official stance is of great importance, given his position."

More subtleties. His official stance could determine the loyalties of a great number of the Black Knights, and if he turned against Brittania then a civil war was inevitable.

"The General is currently in China, I believe," Nunnally replied, and glanced towards Tianzi, who let out a nervous squeak and nodded hurriedly.

Breathing out to steady herself, Tianzi spoke in a clear, if quiet, voice. "I have not seen Toudou-san since before yesterday. Chiba-san has been taking his work to him at their private quarters outside the Forbidden City. He's made no contact that we know about with the Japanese government."

"So he's taking no sides," muttered another representative, who scowled.

"Or he's waiting for the correct opportunity… say, when the post of Prime Minister of Japan is vacant," interrupted Nicolas de Gaulle again, sounding stern. "Your majesty, exactly what is your plan of action for dealing with the Japanese threat of secession?"

Here was the real heart of all the issues. If Brittania used force, then the member nations would fear that Brittania was attempting to rebuild its hegemony, and had merely changed its disguises in order to bring the whole world into a union by diplomacy, and then rule through force again.

If it came to that, the member nations would likely follow Japan's lead and secede as well. Even if Japan was crushed, it would only spark more rebellions throughout the empire, and considering the Empire's only army was a conglomerate of all the armies of the member nations, the army itself would be torn apart by infighting.

Civil war.

"I am hoping it will not have to come to that," Nunnally responded slowly, taking careful measure of her tone and pitch, praying she betrayed no weakness, no sign of how much this situation was affecting her. "We are working with the Japanese government to find an alternative solution to this problem. I know that none of us want this to escalate any farther."

"What about Zero?" clamored a new voice, the voice of the Korean representative. "Where is he!"

"The representative of Korea raises an excellent point, your majesty," came the rumbling baritone of the German representative. "Zero is supposed to be in charge of the investigation into the incident, is he not?"

"Zero-sama is currently following a lead. We are awaiting his report shortly," Kaguya answered succinctly. "I'm afraid for the purposes of the investigation the matter he is looking into is strictly classified until further notice."

There was a brief silence, a vacuum in the barrage.

"Honored members of the Council," Nunnally began, her voice quiet but steady, like a deep river, "We have only just started to create a peaceful world free of the terrors of the old. This crisis is a test, one that I believe the people of the world will pass, and show that they are truly ready to handle this era of peace. I have faith that we will find a peaceful solution to this crisis."

00000

They left the underground facility beneath Jeremiah's farm, both Suzaku and Kallen desperately wanting, needing air, to be free of the dark depths of that room that had begun to feel like a tomb.

For a while, neither of them spoke, staring out at the endless groves of oranges, the tangy, sweet smell filling their lungs. Sayoko and Jeremiah stood off to the side, watching them, no doubt carrying their own thoughts.

"… he knew." Suzaku chuckled beneath the mask, breaking the silence. "He knew everything, before we did."

Kallen, despite herself, giggled as well, almost as a coping mechanism. "That's just like that guy," she muttered, shaking her head with a hint of amusement. "He could have just told us from the beginning."

"That's not his style," he replied, smiling. "It's just like when he was a kid. Always showing off."

They shared a smile, though Zero's was hidden beneath the mask.

A thought occurred to him, a part of the investigation that he had been forgetting up until now.

"You have Private Shigeru, don't you?" Zero asked, more to say it out loud than for anything else.

Jeremiah nodded. "He's in the facility. He's very badly traumatized, and we had to be sure that he was not under Geass. In case he was, allowing your people to take him into custody could have been a disaster."

"Wait a second, you can't just hold a soldier prisoner!" Kallen butted in, narrowing her eyes. "You don't have the authority to do something like that!"

To their surprise, Jeremiah and Sayoko both chuckled lightly.

"What's so funny?" the redhead questioned suspiciously.

"Actually, we do," Sayoko murmured, a faint hint of a smile on her placid features.

It took Suzaku a few moments to understand. "Lelouch arranged for you to have governmental authority, didn't he?"

Jeremiah nodded. "He left instructions with Schneizel, to be triggered upon the formation of the new government. Technically, our organization is an intelligence subsection of the Black Knights, one that reports directly to Zero."

The implications of the statement were apparent to all. While in name, they worked for Suzaku, who bore the mask of Zero, they continued to work in spirit for the original Zero, their master.

"And Lloyd-san? He knew about this?" Suzaku questioned, turning away from them. He knew the answer, just like before, he just wanted to hear it for himself.

"Lloyd-san, Nina-san, and Cecile-san all agreed to provide support for us," Sayoko informed him. "I believe Rakshata-san was brought in after they formed their research team."

"Lelouch really planned this all out, huh?" Kallen laughed, a brief, but warm smile on her face.

Zero nodded, feeling noticeably light himself. After a moment, the urgency of the situation returned to him.

"Where will you go first?" he asked, glancing towards her. "To find C.C."

Kallen paused, biting her lip. "I'm not sure…" she looked towards Jeremiah and Sayoko expectantly.

"C.C.-sama has not been in contact with us since his majesty's death," Jeremiah replied, looking grave. "We do not know where she is at the moment."

"We should start in Tokyo," Zero murmured. "She was definitely in Tokyo when…" he trailed off, swallowing, and then continued, "And afterward, I know she left for the countryside, to disappear. Her trail might be cold, but there still could be some hints."

"We will return with you," Jeremiah said, stepping forward. "I will do my best to undo the damage of the Geass and gather information, if you let me."

"That's a good idea," Suzaku nodded crisply. "I'll get you clearance."

"And I will help you, Kallen-san, in your search," Sayoko offered, bowing.

Kallen nodded gratefully, and, for the first time since this crisis began, felt that the world was starting to look a little brighter.

00000

Gino groaned a little, rotating his shoulder in an attempt to ease some of the muscle pains in his back. He hated sleeping on military cots- another reason why he hadn't joined the regular military back in the old Brittania. The Knights of Rounds almost never had to work in the trenches, so to speak.

Unfortunately, uncomfortable sleeping quarters were the least of his worries.

"Lieutenant Keima, is that crowd still outside?" he asked quietly, stepping into the command tent, using one arm to hold up the flap.

"See for yourself sir," the Lieutenant gestured to the cameras feeds they had set up at the perimeter.

Filling up the feeds just outside the main gate were hundreds of people. Grieving family and friends who demanded to see the bodies of their loved ones, angry protestors who demanded the base be opened to the public for 'the truth', and all other sorts of people.

To Gino, it only meant trouble. Sighing, he moved over to the prefab counter, where a small coffee maker sat, half full.

"How long have they been there now?" he asked, pouring himself a cup of lukewarm coffee. He took a sip and wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, that's bitter."

"The first of them began arriving this morning. The crowd keeps growing, and many of them seem to have carried supplies to camp outside the base," Keima reported, and then glanced over at his commander, gesturing towards a drawer on the counter. "And the cream and sugar are in the top drawer, sir."

Nodding gratefully, Gino began pouring packets of sugar into his coffee. "Any signs of violence?"

"None yet sir. There's been some verbal conflict, but nothing has escalated yet," the Lieutenant responded.

"Who's that?" the ex-Knight of Rounds questioned, glancing down at the feed, where it seemed a ringleader of the protestors had appeared.

"That's the wife of Captain Mishizawa, Mishizawa Sayuri," Keima indicated, pointing to a middle aged Japanese woman at the forefront of the crowd. "She's become something of a gathering point for the other mourners."

Gino studied her face. She was barely in her forties, with full features and a delicate bone structure that gave her a regal, demure appearance- something that was marred by the redness of her eyes and the tear tracks that still stained her cheeks as she begged the guards to allow her into the base.

He sighed. "Too young to be a widow," he muttered, sipping the coffee, feeling old- especially for a young man barely in his twenties. It felt like this crisis was just piling on the years to his life.

"Sir, if I may," the Lieutenant murmured hesitantly, "Some of the concerns of the protestors are rather serious, and I don't think we have the right to deny wives and mothers the chance to see their husbands and sons. And some of them are even saying…" he shifted uncomfortably, and Gino chuckled bitterly.

"That it's not right for a Brittanian to be in charge of this base when Brittanians destroyed it?" he finished, a dark smile on his face. "Especially a former Knight of Rounds."

Keima nodded, not saying anything.

"What do you think, Keima?" Gino asked as he took another tentative gulp of his coffee, glancing at his executive officer over the rim of the coffee cup. "And don't bother standing on ceremony. I want to hear the truth."

The Lieutenant swallowed, clasped his hands behind his back, and straightened. "Sir, while I know you have nothing but respect for Japan and have served with distinction, I do empathize with the sentiments of the crowd."

Gino laughed hollowly. "Of course. And the men?"

The other man seemed to shrink, and tensed further. "… the men have expressed similar sentiments." Obviously somewhat distressed at having expressed some disrespect to his commanding officer, he continued hurriedly, "But sir, they-"

The former Knight of Three waved him off with a gesture of his hand. "I know, Keima. I get it. I am a soldier- I get that there's some past bitterness. I've met the families of some of the men I've killed, and had them spit in my face and call me a bastard." He chuckled cynically, unusual for such a normally cheery individual. "Believe me, I don't like this situation any more than you do."

He glanced down at the camera feed again, where hundreds of angry faces shifted, a powder keg that was just waiting for the right spark to ignite and send things out of control.

"We're gonna need a miracle," he muttered to himself, "To get out of this one."

00000

Ougi felt like he could have used a miracle of his own, shifting uncomfortably in his seat- the seat of the Prime Minister, which had never felt more uncomfortable than it did right then. He stopped, hating himself for exposing even a hint of weakness- that wasn't how he should act, even in the face of expulsion from his post.

At the podium, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideyoshi continued to speak, calling the vote to order, an air of smug satisfaction about him.

And why shouldn't he be, Ougi thought bitterly. There was hardly a man in this room who wasn't dancing to Hideyoshi's tune right now. The air of a room wasn't one of a vote- it was one of an execution.

"Congressmen, I do not intend to besmirch Minister Ougi's good name, nor the deeds he has accomplished," Hideyoshi said slowly, a false measure of warmth in his tone as he began to speak.

"Certainly, this man is a patriot of our great nation, a leader of the legendary Black Knights, a man who fought against the Emperors of Brittania in the last war, and has served our country with distinction and honor. And yet," he continued, a hint of that same arrogant satisfaction coming through his tone, "I believe that we cannot rely upon this man to serve our country as it is today, as he is today. His decision to unite with Brittania is a mistake, one that we must rectify immediately. We have been lured by a false promise of peace, into a lion's den, my friends. How can we trust the people who destroyed our nation? Who slaughtered our women, our children? Who drove us into servitude and destitution?"

His voice boomed throughout the room, and Ougi saw the old anger begin to reveal itself in the eyes of the members of the Diet. They had all lived in the glory days before Japan became Area 11, and then survived the brutal rule underneath Brittania, losing friends and loved ones during that timespan. They had grown up loathing their oppressors, and instilled with a longing for the Japan of old. They had the most reason to hate Brittania, and Hideyoshi knew it.

"And that is why I, with great reluctance, call for you, the chosen representatives of this nation, to decide today whether or not we can continue to trust the reigns of our government to a man who would have us make peace with an empire of murderers and liars!"

The sound of the ringing applause following the end of Hideyoshi's speech sounded, to Ougi, like the drums of war.

He stood. It might be futile, but he had to at least try to soften things, to make one last gesture, one last attempt at peace.

It could be his last act as Prime Minister, after all.

"If I may?" he asked softly, glancing at the Cabinet Secretary.

Hideyoshi nodded, a genial smile on his face that did nothing to hide the confident arrogance in his eyes. "Of course, Minister," he said, bowing his head, stepping away from the podium.

Ougi took a steadying breath, gripped the sides of the podium, and began to speak.

"Congressmen, I don't intend to plead for my job. I believe that is a decision I can leave up to you. I want, instead, to ask for all of you to stop, just for a moment, and remember the war." He glanced around the room, meeting as many eyes as he could, hoping to express himself correctly. "Remember, beneath the hate, the anger, the sorrow that carried us through those countless battles, what we fought for."

He met each eye with as much determination as he could muster.

"We fought for peace, congressmen, peace for our country. A chance to regain our national honor, to return Japan to its proper place in the world. Not for our own sake, not for revenge, but for the future. So that our children, and their children, would have a nation to be proud of, a nation they could live and grow peacefully within." He thought of Viletta, of his son, Naoto, his daughter, Suzuna, and his determination grew.

"And now, do we really intend to step back into the theater of war? To undo all that we've accomplished, just for the sake of an old grudge?" Ougi grip on the podium tightened. "I ask you, is that really the legacy we want to leave behind?"

Unlike the end of Hideyoshi's speech, Ougi's was greeted by a contemplative silence that seemed to swallow up all sound. No one said a word, and every face seemed paused, even momentarily, by his words.

And then, a single, soft clap, broke the spell.

Hideyoshi was standing, clapping, not with admiration, but mockingly, a satisfied smile on his face. "An excellent speech, Minister. Your words have touched us all. But I believe you are mistaken when you say that we are the ones starting a war."

Ougi blinked.

The Cabinet Secretary's smiled, his expression like a serpent coiled about its prey. "We have never made any sort of declaration about our intention to wage war against Brittania. On the contrary, we desire only peace, just as you described. But we believe our peace is to be found outside of the union with Brittania." He shrugged, almost casually. "Our desire for secession carries no declaration of war."

He smirked, and, almost lazily, fixed Ougi with a hooded look. "Or is it that you fear Brittania's reprisal, Minister? That you believe that our desire for a peaceful secession is in some way seen as a threat to the supremacy of the Brittanian Empire, and that they will use force to keep us in line?"

Ougi swallowed, unsure. "But, if you secede… the Black Knights…"

"Ah yes, the vaunted Black Knights," Hideyoshi nodded, "I am aware that many of our countrymen are enlisted in their ranks. I am sure that, once they learn of our country's decision to separate from Brittania, they will undoubtedly leave and return to us, to protect the homeland, as we will be bereft of the protection of the Empire."

"You're talking about splitting Brittania's army! Dividing their forces!" Ougi said accusingly, narrowing his eyes. "How will that not incite a war!"

"If men choose to defend their homeland, how is that inciting a war?" the Secretary responded smoothly, arching his eyebrow critically. "While I am sure there will be some difficulty when we regain our military capabilities, Brittania has no right to detain our countrymen who no longer wish to serve a foreign power."

"And what happens to the non-Japanese soldiers?" the Prime Minister shot back hotly. "What happens to the residents of Brittania who are living amongst us now, as equals?"

"They may choose to stay," Hideyoshi proposed with an oily tone, "_If_ they revoke their citizenship to Brittania and swear allegiance to us. Those who resist and will not leave freely will be judged to be illegal immigrants and be deported accordingly."

"This is insane! If you do this, Brittania will have no choice but to respond!" Ougi snapped, losing his composure as he slammed his fist down on the podium.

"So you say we should live in fear? Do nothing because of the power of Brittania?" Hideyoshi countered, and every face in the room was visibly entranced by his words now. The expressions, which had been skeptical or thoughtful, changed to defiant and angry.

The idea of bowing to Brittania would not sit well with this group, who had grown up oppressed and humiliated, and Ougi realized he had been manipulated into this point, just so Hideyoshi would be able to drive this final nail into his political coffin.

Now, out of their own sense of pride, they would not bow to Brittania, even those who had doubts about this proposal. And they certainly would no longer listen to him, someone seen as a sympathizer and puppet of Brittania.

Ougi's shoulders slumped helplessly. How could he have ever believed he could play the game of politics, when he had been so easily played into the opposition's hands?

"Minister, we will not live in fear of that empire for one day longer," the Cabinet Secretary said softly, but his voice seemed to echo about the room. "The time has come to show Brittania that Japan will not bow to them, and will not serve them."

Satisfied, the Secretary gestured for Ougi to sit- a blatant disregard for the command structure of the government, and a clear indication that it was Hideyoshi, not Ougi, who was now in charge of the Diet.

Defeated, Ougi returned to his seat.

"If no one has anything left to say, we can begin the voting process," Hideyoshi announced, a triumphant glint in his eyes.

Ougi knew it was over now. He had failed to convince the National Diet, to warn them off this path. His career as Prime Minister of Japan would end in being forced out of office, in disgrace, remembered only as the man who could not prevent the outbreak of a second war.

All that was left was to count the votes and clean out his desk.

He hung his head, ready for the hammer to fall.

"Wait, please. I would like to say a word, Congressmen."

All eyes swiveled to the back of the room, towards the large double doors that were the portcullis to the room, and every eye widened, even Ougi's and Hideyoshi's.

At the doorway, tall and regal, like the emperors of old stepping off from the tapestries of history and legend, stood Zero.

00000

"I would like to speak," he repeated, and his voice dominated the room. "With your permission, of course, Congressmen."

Beneath the mask, Suzaku swallowed, throat tight. Lelouch's task was for him to speak on Ougi's behalf to protect the man and keep Japan from seceding, but that would require the skills of a powerful and compelling orator.

And while he was many things, Suzaku was not exactly a statesman, and definitely not the demagogue Lelouch had been.

Still, he had to try. Zero still had a powerful hold on the imagination and hearts of the world, especially Japan, and his opinion might just be enough to put out the fires of war.

Hideyoshi blinked, composure falling for a moment.

"Well, Secretary Hideyoshi?" Zero questioned, voice booming throughout the assembly hall.

The Chief Cabinet Secretary flushed, face coloring at the humiliation of being caught so flat footed, especially in a crowd that had once been totally under his control.

"Of course, Zero," Hideyoshi managed smoothly, straightening. "We would be more than happy to listen to your words. You have always been a great friend to Japan."

The walk to the speaker's podium felt longer than a march to any battlefield Suzaku had ever had to tread. He felt the eyes of every person in the room fixated upon him every step of the way, more threatening than any gun that ever been pointed at him. Cameras around the room, which kept this session televised, were fixated on his every movement.

As he reached his destination, he closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

_Lelouch, wherever you are, I could really use some of that 'miraculous' ability right about now._

He opened his eyes.

"Congressmen, I come before you today, not as a representative of Brittania, an envoy of the Empress. I have always and forever been an ally of justice, and that is why I come to you today, to ask you to withdraw the motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Ougi."

Lelouch's words, out of his mouth. Unconsciously, he spread his arms in a grandiose gesture, echoing the movements that Lelouch used to make during his own speeches.

Hideyoshi smirked, obviously regaining his composure at these words. "I'm afraid that the motion is already on the floor, Zero. I can no longer withdraw it, nor do I have a desire to. This vote must pass or be defeated now."

"Then suspend the vote," he offered in reply. "I ask that the National Diet take a small recess to weight this decision carefully before making a vote. Give myself and the members of my investigation team time to uncover the facts before you take a stand." He glanced over at Hideyoshi. "Is that not acceptable, Secretary Hideyoshi?"

The Cabinet Secretary smiled back, still confident. "Of course it is, Zero. If the Diet agrees with your proposal, that is."

Eyes met across the room, the congressmen analyzing their peers, wondering if any of them would be willing to put forth such a proposal and support it.

Damn it. They needed a push, the kind of push that Suzaku wasn't sure if he could give.

"I'm sorry Zero, but it looks like this assembly will not acquiesce to your request," Hideyoshi murmured with an oily tone, smiling like a serpent.

"Japan, why do you turn your back on the dead?" Suzaku suddenly asked, keeping his voice low, startling Hideyoshi and several other members of the Diet. "Why do you spit on the sacrifices that have paved the foundation of this country?"

Silence. Some of the Diet members shifted uncomfortably.

Suzaku remembered his father's face, pale and shaking, and the warmth of the blood that spilled out over the knife and onto his hands.

"You have sacrificed your sons, your fathers, your brothers, your sisters, your daughters, your mothers, Japan." He felt like he was outside his own body, distant from himself, watching himself, as Zero, give this speech. "You have spilled your country's lifeblood onto this soil. For the sake of peace. And now you turn back on that peace. Now, you demand more. No longer content with the simple peace you have earned through blood and pain, you seek more, uncaring of the wills of others."

He gazed up at the Diet members, and, even through the mask, his gaze pierced them.

"You have become Brittania, Japan. The Brittania of old, which unilaterally sought only to better itself, disregarding the pain of others, trampling their futures for the sake of one selfish desire."

He took a deep breath, and prayed he was not making a mistake.

Had Lelouch ever thought like that, during a speech?

"I am disappointed, Japan."

The words fell like a hammerblow, and temperature dropped considerably. Several congressmen paled and shook with rage, while others scowled. But a few looked away, already humbled. Hideyoshi looked as if he'd been struck personally, obviously shaken by Zero's speech.

"I fought for you, Japan. Do you remember?" Suzaku no longer felt in control of himself, like the ghost of Lelouch, or perhaps his memory, had taken possession of this body and was speaking through him.

Or maybe it was the mask, giving him the confidence necessary to do this.

"I came to your aid, Japan, because I believed you were a country worth saving. A country of justice, a country that desired true peace." Zero shook his head, with the air of a parent looking at a particularly delinquent child. "Why do you turn your back on the justice we shared, Japan? I believed you better than this, Japan, I believed you to be true believers in peace, to be the first amongst those who shared my hope for a better world."

He gripped his chest tightly, wrenching it as if he were in pain. The gesture came before he even thought about it.

Absently, Suzaku wondered if this mask somehow had the power to turn its wearer into a demagogue, regardless of natural ability or lack thereof.

"I beg of you, Japan, my old friend, my comrade. Turn back from this path. Cool your head, Japan. Think not only for your own future, but for the future of all peoples. For the future of the world." Zero swept his arms out in a welcoming gesture. "Show the world that Japan is better than this. That Japan is not a child who throws a tantrum at the slightest provocation and thinks only of itself."

Suzaku's gaze swept about the room. He saw eyes captivated by his words, and felt a kind of intoxication with that kind of power- the power to capture the minds and hearts of others, and change them according to your will.

This was how Lelouch had felt, he realized. This was how it felt to be holding the reigns of the world, to know your words could change the destiny of countries.

It was a dangerous feeling, and Suzaku wondered how Lelouch had kept himself so pure, pure enough to surrender this power and allow himself to die at Suzaku's hands.

"Be the country I know you can be," Zero intoned. "Be a leader for the world. I beg of you, suspend the vote. Give yourselves time to think if this is truly the path you want to take for the future."

And he did something Lelouch never did as Zero.

He bowed.

Zero, the savior of the world, the incarnation of justice, hero to the people, prostrating himself on live television, before the entire world?

Jaws dropped, faces went slack.

"Please," he repeated, still bowing, swallowing, sweating bullets beneath the mask.

Dead silence.

Not a breath was taken, not a word spoken.

Suzaku kept himself in the bow. He couldn't break it. Not just yet.

And then, it happened.

"I move to suspend the vote of no confidence for a period of one week," came a congressman's voice shakily.

"I second that motion," came another, sounding more confident than the previous, having been emboldened by someone else taking the initiative.

Hideyoshi paled considerably.

"All in favor?" he asked, voice somewhat unsteady.

A near unanimous chorus of voices greeted his question with an "Aye".

Fits shaking, the Cabinet Secretary said, with not a small amount of venom, "Then the motion for a recess passes."

Beneath the mask (which somehow felt lighter), Suzaku broke out into a relieved smile.

_Thank you, Lelouch. For believing in me._

Author's Notes

The title is taken from a Smashing Pumpkin's song, "The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning".

Lelouch's "dramatic reveal" was the core scene of the story for me, the reason I wrote this in the first place. It came out far more wordy than I thought, but exposition is like that, I suppose. I hope Lelouch's "predictions" are believable- they were somewhat inspired by the Seldon Plan in Isaac Asimov's _Foundation_ series- and if one guy can predict events thousands of years in the future, why can't Lelouch predict something that'll happen a few years after his death?

In the original design of this story, when it was a one shot, I was going to just skip that initial scene where Cornelia visits Lloyd and the other's lab, but seeing as how I had more room to write, I figured why not. It helped my goal of including every damn character in this series, anyway. And Lloyd, Rakshata, Nina, and Cecile all working together is a nod to Nate Grey's "Dream of the King", and the fighting between Lloyd and Rakshata is inspired by that fic's own scene. Because I didn't have nearly enough nods to other works, apparently.


	4. Part IV: Only Mercifully

Part IV: Only Mercifully

_"Evil is a moral entity and not a created one, an eternal and not a perishable entity: it existed before the world; it constituted the monstrous, the execrable being who was also to fashion such a hideous world. It will hence exist after the creatures which people this world."_

_-_Marquis De Sade

"This is it?" Kallen glanced around. "This was her last verified location?"

Sayoko nodded wordlessly, standing at the entryway. They were standing inside of a small chapel, just on the outskirts of the Settlement. It was tranquil, and quite beautiful, with a single breathtaking stained glass window behind the altar, streaming sunlight passing through and creating an effulgent glow.

Frowning, the pilot of the Guren gave the place a careful sweep. It didn't seem like the kind of place C.C. would have gone. The mysterious woman had never seemed particularly religious, and indeed, seemed more like the type to abhor any kind of dogmatic practice. She seemed to rational, or maybe too cynical, for such things.

Perhaps she had been praying for Lelouch?

Kallen wondered at that for a moment, before shaking her head. Now wasn't the time to speculate.

"Hello?" she called out hesitantly. "Is there anyone here?"

There was a shuffling at the back, and a thinning head of gray hair popped out, followed by bespectacled face that reminded Kallen oddly of Lloyd. His tall, lanky frame seemed to unfold out of the doorway of the back of the church, dressed neatly in the simple black cassock of a priest.

"Yes?" he asked pleasantly, voice carrying an odd lilt to it, peering out at her. "May I help you, miss?"

Kallen nodded. "Um, yes," she shifted, unsure of herself, "Have you been at this church long?"

The priest nodded, smiling genially. "Yes. More than ten years now. I came in the initial immigration after the Brittanian invasion, and have been minding this church ever since."

The redhead felt a measure of relief wash over her. Good. Then there was some chance. "Do you remember a few years ago, a woman came to this church? She had green hair, and amber eyes." It felt odd, describing C.C. to someone, but she felt confident that, if this priest had met C.C., he would remember. She was not exactly a run of the mill person, after all.

He cupped his chin thoughtfully, tapping his index finger against his cheek. "A green haired woman… hmm… When exactly was this?"

"On the day of the Emperor Lelouch's death," Sayoko answered, still standing at the entryway.

The priest's eyes widened. "Ah yes, that young woman. Yes, yes, I remember her. Very hard to forget a girl like that," he muttered, shaking his head. "She came here to pray, she said. She seemed bereaved by something tragic. I believe I thought I heard her cry, even, but perhaps that was just my old mind's imagination."

Kallen blinked at that, her line of thought stymied by the idea that C.C., distant and seemingly emotionless, showed actual tears.

She cared more for Lelouch than she had let on, it appeared.

"Father, did she leave any indication of where she was going, after she left?" Sayoko asked, stepping in for Kallen, who remained mired in her own thoughts. "Anything at all would be of great help to us."

The priest shook his head. "I'm sorry, I spoke very little with that woman. I didn't even catch her name. She left this place on foot, if it helps, but she never said anything about a destination."

"I see," the ninja maid murmured, and bowed her head. "Thank you for your time, father."

"No, please, no need for formality," the priest replied, shaking his head with an embarrassed look. "It is my duty and pleasure to serve. I wish I had been of more help."

"You've been enough help, thank you," Sayoko responded courteously. Kallen nodded absently in affirmation, still dazed, and the two women left the church after bidding the man goodbye.

"Damn it Lelouch, how am I supposed to find that pizza woman?" Kallen muttered to herself as they stepped outside, crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Lelouch-sama would not have left you a task he did not believe you could do, Kallen-san," Sayoko assured her gently.

The redhead wrinkled her nose, the statement of support not doing much for her mood.

"He expects a lot, then. How am I supposed to find someone who doesn't exist in any official records, and who hasn't been seen in over two years?" she bit her lip and scowled. "He could have at least given me a hint… not just saying something stupid like 'follow the smell of pizza'."

"Perhaps there is more wisdom there than Lelouch-sama's words betray," Sayoko murmured thoughtfully, tapping her lip. "I believe he was trying to leave you a hint, Kallen-san."

"But what sort?" the younger woman asked, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "And why couldn't he just tell me something instead of making me work it out for myself?"

To that, Sayoko only smiled and shrugged. "Lelouch-sama is a genius, Kallen-san. I can barely guess at how his mind works, and I would not assume to know his reasons. But," she added, "I do believe that his reasons are justified."

At that, Kallen had to agree. She had once doubted Lelouch, doubted his reasons and ideals, and in the end been proven so terribly wrong. This time, she would trust him, as he apparently trusted her.

"I'll trust him," she murmured quietly.

"Perhaps we should start by posting up pictures of her and asking the Black Knights stationed around the world to look for her?" Sayoko offered.

Kallen considered it, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "It wouldn't work. C.C. might get spooked. Lelouch did say that she didn't want to be found, after all. And if no one's reported any sign of her before now, I don't think something new will pop up so easily."

Sayoko frowned contemplatively. "Someone has to have seen her, though. If she'd taken a job of some sort, or rented an apartment of some kind, there should be some kind of record, somewhere."

"C.C.? Working?" the thought made her snort in amusement. "She's not the type to work. Even if she wanted pizza, she'd just find a way to mooch off of someone to get it, just like she would with Lelouch…"

Kallen trailed off, eyes growing wider.

"Kallen-san?" Sayoko questioned, glancing at the younger woman.

"Sayoko, what happened to Lelouch's money, after he died?" the redhead asked slowly, suspicions already forming in her mind.

The ninja maid paused. "I'm not sure. Lelouch-sama never left any kind of official will, likely to keep up the appearance that he wasn't expecting what would happen. Most of his public assets, like the Imperial treasury, were taken over by the new government. As for his personal bank accounts…" she blinked. "I don't know. The only ones who ever used that account were Lelouch-sama and…"

"And C.C.," Kallen finished triumphantly, a satisfied smile on her face. "She used his money all the time to buy pizza. Why should she stop after he's dead?"

Sayoko's eyes were like saucers as she nodded in realization. "If Lelouch's personal accounts, the ones under Lelouch Lamperouge, are still active and in use, then we can use them to find C.C."

Kallen nodded, a determined grin on her face. "Follow the smell of pizza, huh Lelouch?" she wondered out loud, chuckling. "You could have just told me."

00000

"You really saved me back there," Ougi chuckled, almost delirious with relief, rubbing the back of his head nervously as the two of them stepped inside of the Prime Minister's office (a job that, for now, remained with him). "Thank you."

"No need to thank me," Zero replied smoothly, inclining his head in acknowledgement. Ougi nodded back gratefully, and then looked away, out the window of his office, saying nothing.

They were silent for a while, both caught in their own private reflections. Ougi, wondering how to proceed from here, when less than an hour ago he had resigned himself to being jobless and dishonored. Suzaku, contemplating whether or not Lelouch had known he could accomplish such a task, and what would come next.

"So, how did the investigation at Jeremiah's farm go?" the Prime Minister asked suddenly, glancing over at the masked hero.

Suzaku froze. How exactly was he supposed to explain the events of the past few hours? And should he even? Did Lelouch want his influence to remain a secret?

Deciding it was best to preserve the integrity of the Zero Requiem first and foremost, Zero replied, "Jeremiah is innocent, but he has provided us with new information. I'm currently having him work with us in our investigation- his Geass Canceller will prove a powerful weapon."

Ougi furrowed his brow, looking skeptical. "You're sure he can be trusted?"

The masked man nodded back. "I believe he can. For right now, though, Minister, I can't divulge any more information than this. Not until I'm completely sure." Which was more or less the truth- no need to worry anyone about the vague details Lelouch had given them until Suzaku had confirmed them.

The older man looked over at him, obviously trying to decide whether or not to trust him at his word. Finally, with a reluctant nod, Ougi looked away. "I understand."

"Thank you," Suzaku said quietly, sincerely.

"What about Kallen? Where is she?" Ougi asked, flicking his eyes back towards the other man.

"Kallen's working with the new information we've been given. She's handling part of the investigation while I help maintain things here in Tokyo," Suzaku responded, using a very vague, but nonetheless correct version of the truth.

Wryly, he wondered when it was he'd gotten so adept at lying with the truth. More of the magic of wearing the mask of Zero, he supposed.

"Well, hopefully there won't be any more problems from here on in," Ougi said, chuckling somewhat nervously.

"Let us hope," Zero replied ominously.

00000

"Damn that Zero!" Hideyoshi swore, ripping off his tie in a fury as he stormed into his office. Behind him, his aide, Hanekoma, locked the door behind him accordingly.

"I haven't been this humiliated since I was shot down by Brittania," he seethed, a twisted expression of hate on his face. The phantom ache in his leg, the result of his Knightmare being destroyed at the battle of Narita, flared up as he remembered the deeply held loathing he carried for the empire that had stolen more than a year of his life, his physical health, and his honor.

"There was no way to predict that Zero would make such a move, sir" Hanekoma assured him. Hanekoma Tokugawa was a bespectacled man, thin enough to be called weedy, but with a keen mind and a knack for handling and arranging matters that made him an excellent aide.

The Cabinet Secretary whirled on him violently, slamming his fist down on his desk. "This was your plan, Hanekoma!" he snapped irritably. "You assured me that the vote of no confidence would come through without a hitch. I manipulated that dullard, Ougi, into making that speech, I had everything under control… until that masked bastard showed up!"

"Sir, the vote was only delayed…" his aide tried to interrupt, but Hideyoshi's eyes narrowed and he cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"The vote is dead!" Hideyoshi snarled viciously. "Thanks to Zero, nobody's going to back this proposal!"

He panted slightly, anger lessening as he sank back down into his desk chair. "There is no more vote of no confidence," he muttered.

Hanekoma was silent for a moment, fixing his glasses on his nose.

"Well, sir, that's only if hostilities stay at this level," he said languidly, face intentionally expressionless.

Hideyoshi froze. "Just what exactly are you saying, Hanekoma?" he asked slowly, raising his head as he did so.

"Our associate has promised you command of a Japan free of Brittania," Hanekoma murmured quietly, face still betraying nothing. "That promise still stands."

The Cabinet Secretary gave him a suspicious look. "And what has this mysterious benefactor to gain from helping us to this extent, exactly? You never did explain that."

Hanekoma shrugged. "Our associate despises this false peace with Brittania as much as you do. The goal of all of this is to show the world that Japan and Brittania cannot stand together. A goal I believe you share."

Hideyoshi smirked, confidence returning as he leaned back into his chair, folding his hands and propping up his elbows on the arms of the chair. "So what did our… friend, have in mind?"

His aide smiled back, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Just keep your eyes and ears open, sir, and have our forces in place. The opportunity will come."

Unnoticed by Hideyoshi, beneath the sheen of his glasses, Hanekoma's eyes glowed with the distinctive crimson aura of a Geass.

00000

Nunnally breathed a sigh of relief as she heard Schneizel's report about the decision reached by the National Diet of Japan, and beside her, Kaguya' terse grip on her chair relaxed considerably.

"Thank God," the Empress whispered softly.

"Thank Zero-sama," Kaguya joked weakly, relief filling her voice as well.

Schneizel nodded. "With Zero's influence, the crisis in Japan is calming. The climate is still terse, but the political situation is less charged than before."

Nunnally shifted, a determined look on her face. "I'm going to Japan," she declared suddenly.

Both other occupants of the room turned towards her with varying degrees of shock. Schneizel frowned, and Kaguya opened her mouth to protest, but the Empress cut her off with a fierce look.

"I can't stay here any longer and let others act for me," she said flatly. "I will not sit back and let this crisis pass without any action from my own person."

"Nunnally-san, it's reckless," Kaguya protested softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know you want to do something, but you need to trust Zero."

"Kaguya-sama is right," Schneizel agreed, nodding. "The situation is calming, but it's too dangerous for you to go to Japan yourself."

"I can go in your place," the Chairwoman offered, giving her a pensive look.

The Empress shook her head. "It has to be me. The Japanese are being pacified by Zero's reputation, not out of trust and friendship to Brittania. The feelings of anger and hate are still there, only sleeping."

"Goodwill can be fostered in many ways," Kaguya murmured, and then fell silent.

"I'm sorry, but I've made my decision," Nunnally whispered, clasping the locket around her neck. "I need to do this."

Glancing over at the necklace, Kaguya finally understood.

Lelouch, after all, would never have sat back and let others take charge.

If Nunnally was going to protect this new world, this fledgling peace, she would have to learn to trust her own strength to do that.

"I understand." Kaguya squeezed her shoulder, just once, shutting her eyes as she did so. "I'll stay here and manage things from Brittania."

"Thank you," Nunnally whispered, placing her hand over the other woman's in gratitude.

"If that is your decision," Schneizel said softly, over their respective silences, "Then I will make the necessary preparations. If I may, we should take at least some precautionary measures to ensure the Empress' safety, and it will take some time to prepare them. The vote will not be for another seven days, so will this be acceptable?"

"Please try to make it within a day, Schneizel-nii-sama," the Empress ordered softly, and then, to herself, murmured, "I hope this will make the difference."

00000

Jeremiah made his way through the prison easily, brandishing special security orders directly from the Prime Minister that allowed him to bypass normal security protocols. Luckily for him, all of the Black Knights stationed there were new recruits, meaning they would have no knowledge of who he was or what he stood for.

He was also glad that Zero hadn't the time to accompany him here.

There was something he needed to confirm.

"Are you Corporal Satonaka?" he questioned, peering through the clear cell wall at the dark haired man in the Black Knights uniform that sat there, atop the bed.

The man's head shot up. His face was haggard, unshaven, and looked remarkably worse for the wear.

Jeremiah's suspicions rose.

"Are you… are you here to release me?" Satonaka asked desperately, a hysterical edge to his voice. "Please, you have to listen to me. I don't remember shooting that boy! One minute I was escorting Minister Ougi to his speech, and the next I woke up in the interrogation cell, I swear!"

His words were hurried and panicked, and to most people would sound like the frantic babbling of a guilty man.

But to a man like Jeremiah, who knew of darker powers than most men dared to dream of, it was a sign that his suspicions were correct. If so, then Lelouch-sama…

He shook his head. Now wasn't the time.

"I understand," Jeremiah said soothingly, inclining his head. His Geass Canceller opened, and the flash of blue light enveloped the room.

It clicked shut, and the light faded, leaving the Corporal slack against the wall, face pale and shaking.

"Corporal Satonaka?" Jeremiah questioned. "Do you remember anything about what happened prior to the speech?"

Shakily, the other man nodded. "I… I remember something now. I don't know how I forgot. Just before I went out to meet my squad, I heard… I heard a voice."

"A voice?" the former knight asked slowly. "What sort of voice?"

"It sounded… wrong. Like the throat was messed up or something. But I thought…" the Corporal paused, biting his lip, sounding hesitant. "I thought it sounded like a woman."

Jeremiah's stomach dropped.

_I knew it_, he thought grimly. _That voice was hers, then._

Pressing on despite the sickening feeling in his gut, he continued, "What happened after that?"

"I did shoot that boy," Satonaka whispered, as if he hadn't heard, eyes wide and horrified, hands clasping over his mouth. "I remember it now. But…"

"But what?" Jeremiah asked, already knowing the answer.

Satonaka looked up, brow furrowed in confusion, jaw tight. "I… it was like my hands weren't my own. I heard that woman's voice in my head again, and then suddenly my hands were moving and I was pulling the trigger." He shook his head. "But… that's impossible, right? There's nothing that can just take control of a man's brain like that, right? I must have just… lost control or something."

"You never know," Jeremiah muttered darkly, turning and stalking back down the hallway. "There might just be something like that."

00000

The bank was fairly deserted, which Kallen was extremely grateful for, as her patience had worn down to nothing over the past few days, and dealing with an endlessly long line would not have helped.

"May I help you, miss?" asked a graying haired man at the front, dressed smartly in a black suit, standing just off to the side of the entrance.

"I need to see a statement on an account here," Kallen informed him briskly, and Sayoko stepped in line behind her. "Under one Lelouch Lamperouge."

The man's eyebrow raised a fraction at the name.

"Coincidence," she added, realizing her mistake. "He was born after the prince, so his parents named him after the other Lelouch." She gave him a smile and a shrug. "Bad luck on his part, I suppose."

With a doubtful look, the man bowed. "Certainly, miss." He gestured toward one of the free tellers. "Right this way."

Kallen nodded gratefully, sharing a look with Sayoko, who hid a smile as they made their way over to the teller's window.

"May I have the account number and pin, please?" the teller smiled genially, bowing her head politely.

The redhead froze. Lelouch never gave her that information…

"One moment," Kallen said, glancing back at Sayoko with a questioning look.

The maid gave her an apologetic look, a silent way of saying that she had no idea what that would be.

"The account number and pin, miss?" asked the young lady at the window again, tilting her head to the side inquisitively.

Coughing, Kallen looked back at the teller, went to her pocket and retrieved her military identification, and said in a low voice, "Look, I'm a Major with the Black Knights. I need to see the statements for this account as a matter of international security. It may hold valuable evidence for an ongoing investigation."

The teller's placid features distorted briefly into worry, before she bowed her head again. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but then I'll need to see a warrant."

"Didn't you hear me?" the redhead said with a low growl, "This isn't a joke!"

"I'm sorry miss, but the security of our client's accounts is one of our top priorities, so this is standard issue," the other woman apologized.

Kallen bit her lip in frustration. Was this not the way Lelouch wanted her to find C.C.? He would definitely have thought about such a simple matter as the account number and pin, if he had…was he just betting on her having a warrant?

Suddenly, the teller's eyes widened. "Oh, wait, miss, your name… Kouzuki Kallen, correct? Is that the name listed on your I.D.?"

Blinking, frustration giving way to confusion, the Guren's pilot nodded hesitantly, unsure.

"We've been holding onto a package for you for quite some time, on the request of one our clients," the woman at the window said cordially. "Please, wait right there and I'll have someone bring it out to you."

Dumbfounded into silence, Kallen once more looked back towards Sayoko, who merely smiled.

"Lelouch-sama always plans ahead," she whispered, sounding amused. "I believe this means we are on the correct trail, Kallen-san."

After a few minutes, one of the security guards appeared behind the window and handed their teller a small white envelope.

"Here you are, miss. This is your name, correct?"

Kallen nodded wordlessly, taking the envelope, eyes glued to the small writing on the center, in Lelouch's familiar flowing script. Her name.

She tore open the envelope, wherein laid a single sheet of paper with only two lines.

The account number, and the pin. Nothing else.

Her lips quirked. Lelouch really did plan for everything.

"I believe this is the account number, and the pin," Kallen said, and repeated the numbers back to the teller, who processed it. "I'll need the information about the last known transaction from this account."

"Please, wait one moment," the teller said cheerfully, fingers nimbly clacking away on the keyboard as she peered down at the screen. "The last known transaction was at a Pizza Hut in Cancun, Mexico, miss. Yesterday evening, at around six o'clock."

Kallen blinked, shaking her head. "I should have known,' she muttered, chuckling. "I'm getting on the next flight there, then."

Sayoko bowed her head. "Then this is where I will take my leave of you, Kallen-san. I will stay here and aid Jeremiah-san and Zero-sama in their efforts."

The redhead glanced back at the older woman in confusion. "You're not coming with me?"

"This was a task Lelouch-sama left to you, and you alone, Kallen-san," the maid said softly, smiling. "I believe C.C.-sama would be more likely to appear if you were alone."

Kallen nodded in understanding. "Thank you for your help, Sayoko-san. Good luck."

"To you as well, Kallen-san," Sayoko replied warmly. "Godspeed."

00000

"Empress, please, this way," said Lilliane, one of her bodyguards, handpicked by Zero from the ranks of the Black Knights, who was currently pushing her wheelchair down towards the hangar where the Imperial jet was waiting. Behind her trailed a contingent of four other bodyguards, each keeping a careful sweep of the private hangar attached to the palace at New Pendragon.

"Thank you, Lilliane," Nunnally said softly, placing a grateful hand over the older woman's own. "I know I may be putting great pressure on you and the rest of my staff by leaving the Empire little over a day after announcing my intention, but time is of the essence."

"No thanks necessary, your majesty," she replied genially, smiling. "It's our duty to serve."

Nunnally smiled back warmly and nodded. "You're a good person, Lilliane-san."

"The Empress is too kind," the bodyguard said embarrassedly, blushing slightly, bowing her head. She stilled, however, and Nunnally felt the older woman tense, a low breath exiting her lips as though to rid herself of the light atmosphere.

Knowing it was best to stay silent and observe, the Empress waited for a sign of what had triggered the response from her bodyguards.

"Who's out there?" Lilliane questioned briskly, and her other four bodyguards unholstered their weapons.

A voice called out to her, coming from the plane.

"Get back, Empress!" Lilliane scrambled backwards, pulling her wheelchair frantically as the other four bodyguards made a human barrier between her and the Imperial jet.

All four soldiers pointed their weapons at the plane, just as a figure stepped out of waiting jet.

Nunnally's eyes widened.

"You are-"

00000

He could hear the birds chirping outside, singing their songs to each other, without a care for the troubles of the world of humans.

That was what he had always liked about nature, why he practiced meditation so often. Being able to pull away, even for a moment, from the constant turmoil and conflict of the physical world was a blessing that a man like him, who had been bred for war and who excelled at it, was rarely allowed.

"Toudou-san?"

Toudou Kyoshiro opened his eyes slowly, meeting the eyes of Toudou Chiba, formerly Nagisa Chiba of the Four Holy Blades, and now his wife of a few months (Chiba herself had never pressured him to marry her, but within a year of living together he'd gotten a call from Kaguya-sama- three weeks later he found a ring). She leaned against the doorframe, hesitant to enter the meditation room. It was the one place in the house that she rarely ventured to, knowing that her husband desired quiet when he was there.

"There's a message for you, from Chief Secretary Hideyoshi," Chiba said softly, holding out a white sheet of paper for him, moving closer so he wouldn't have to stand up from his kneeling position on the floor.

Giving her a curt nod of thanks, he took it wordlessly, eyes scanning the page without expression. When he was finished, he shut his eyes, exhaled, and continued sitting still.

"… they want you to come back to Japan and lead the army, don't they?" Chiba whispered. "They need your support if they're going to make this secession real."

He said nothing.

"What will you do, Toudou-san?"

Without opening his eyes, Toudou replied, with a slow, deliberate tone, "I must think on this. I will give them their answer when I am ready."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Chiba turned and left, leaving him to his thoughts.

_There is no place for a man like me except on the battlefield, is there? _he thought to himself humorlessly. _No path for me except for war. _

00000

One long flight sandwiched between a snoring older gentleman and a hyperactive brat who was glued to the glowing screen of his portable gaming system, a brutally hot drive in a taxi with a broken air conditioner and a lecherous driver, and several attempts at getting directions from the locals later, Kallen had arrived at a small, out of the way beach front house where the local Pizza Hut had said it made daily deliveries. While out of town and out of their normal radius of delivery, their mysterious patron always tipped generously and ordered enough food for three people.

_ Or one pizza loving witch,_ Kallen added sardonically, shaking her head, stepping nervously towards the front door.

What was she going to say? They hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms, after all, and they hadn't seen each other in years…

She swallowed, suddenly standing still, unwilling to make the final steps towards the door.

This was stupid. Why send her, of all people? Why not Suzaku, who had been in cahoots with C.C. and Lelouch for that whole crazy scheme of theirs? Did C.C. even want to speak with her?

"I should just leave," she said suddenly, feeling totally and utterly foolish, and started to turn-

And came face to face with the witch in question, who was dressed in a simple, flowing white sundress, an overly large straw hat over her head and a playful look on her face.

"I'm surprised," she commented lightly, "I thought you would be standing there for at least another minute or two before trying to run off. Were you really that scared of me?"

"I-" Kallen opened her mouth once, twice, and then, finally sputtered back, "I'm not scared of you!"

"You were so caught up in your thoughts that you didn't realize I'd been following you since you walked into the Pizza Hut in town," C.C. taunted whimsically, hands clasped behind her back as she leaned in, putting her face inches from Kallen's. "I'm disappointed, you know."

The redhead frowned. "And why's that?"

"I bet Lelouch you would have gotten here by yesterday, according to the schedule. But alas, I suppose I overestimated you." The witch chuckled, and pulled back, turning away. "Took you a while to check Lelouch's bank accounts, hmm?"

"It was a long flight," Kallen said defensively, crossing her arms with a huff. "Stop trying to get on my nerves."

"Was it? I suppose you don't get paid enough to make first class," C.C. said, giving her a pitying look over her shoulder.

"I don't want to hear that from someone who lives off of other people's money," the redhead snapped back testily. Her salary was not bad, damn it. Sure her apartment wasn't as nice as Gino's, or even Tamaki's, but she was a single woman and didn't need that much space anyway, right?

"Technically it's my money now," said the witch playfully. "Lelouch left me with enough to live off of for quite a while."

"I can see that," Kallen muttered, a tinge of envy in her voice as she glanced behind her at the house. While relatively small, in comparison to some of the other houses that lined the coast, it had a beautiful view of the ocean and was quiet and secluded, near picturesque.

"You like it?" C.C. grinned, stepping past Kallen, towards the house. "I practically twisted Lelouch's arm into building it for me using the Imperial Treasury a month after the Damocles battle. All private, anonymous contracts with various companies that never knew who was really paying for it. I travel around a lot, but I like coming here to rest for a while."

Her jaw dropped. "You… you…" Kallen shook her head, unable to find the words. That was just like C.C., to not only freeload off of Lelouch's personal funds but an entire Empire's.

"Well, I suppose you had better come inside," C.C. said, interrupting the other woman's silent consternation with a playful smirk, stepping into the house without a backwards look, expecting her to follow.

Kallen gritted her teeth and followed her inside. Now suddenly not having talked to C.C. in years made a lot more sense.

"Close the door behind you," C.C. instructed, tossing her hat off casually onto a couch (leather, expensive leather, Kallen observed enviously) and strolling off down a small hall towards an open door. "I need to change. Make yourself comfortable."

Kallen glanced around the room, feeling decidedly not comfortable. The living room was combined with the kitchen, and looked silly, innocuous even- Cheese-kun stickers and posters on the walls, several pizza boxes stacked on the counter of a kitchen whose stove looked as though it had never even been touched. On the couch there was an overly large Cheese-kun plushy, the same one that C.C. had carried throughout the war, and on the wall there was a large television that was playing a random game show. There was a table in the center of the living room portion with a chess set that looked to be in the middle of play, which was the only thing out of place in the décor.

Outside, the lapping of the waves against pristine white sand was audible, and the large windows revealed a green-blue ocean that shined like diamonds.

God, this was gorgeous, disregarding the Pizza Hut promotional decor. Suddenly her modest one bedroom apartment made her feel like a bum.

"Why Cancun?" she found herself asking aloud, glancing back towards the door.

"Warm water, warm sand, lots of sun," came C.C.'s reply, muffled through the door as the sound of clothes shuffling and falling to the floor became audible. "Why not?"

"Dunno… I just… never pictured you for a beach person, I guess," Kallen said, shrugging.

"When you've got a treasury of cash to burn, why not get a beach front house?" C.C. responded lightly, and the door opened, to reveal C.C. in her familiar restraining suit.

"You kept that?" the redhead blinked in surprise.

"It has nostalgia value for me," came the airy reply, with a shrug of slim shoulders. "Besides, where we're going, it's going to be a bit chilly, and this is surprisingly comfortable."

"We're going somewhere?" Kallen said slowly, trying to get a sense of where this conversation was going.

C.C. gave her a sly look as she stepped into the kitchen, rummaging about for a glass of water. "We both know you're here because of that ridiculous recording of Lelouch's. Let's not beat around the bush, shall we?"

"Look, he didn't tell me anything, just that you would have the answers," the redhead muttered irritably, crossing her arms and looking away. "And on that note, I'd appreciate some goddamn answers, by the way."

"When we get to where we need to go, you'll understand everything," C.C. replied, lips quirking, a whimsical note in her voice as she took a slow swig of her water, leaning against the counter of the kitchen. "Besides, I don't like explaining myself twice."

"Why would you have to explain yourself twice?" Kallen questioned confusedly, brow furrowing.

"Because the other member of our little party isn't here," she responded with a lecturing tone in her voice, as though she were speaking to a particularly slow child, "Speaking of which, you should tell him to meet us. We'll likely need his help."

"Who?" the redhead asked slowly, gritting her teeth in frustration. Why did she ever expect C.C., of all people, to be willing to give her a straight answer.

"Your Zero, of course," C.C. said, in a long suffering tone, setting the glass down. The use of 'your' was not lost on either of them, and Kallen frowned.

"He's not 'my' Zero," she refuted, sounding annoyed. "And where are you taking us? You never did explain that."

"You've been there before," C.C. responded tartly, a playful smirk on her lips. "Both of you. Several times, in fact."

"That's a lot of places," Kallen snapped.

The witch sighed in a good natured annoyance, like a teacher coaching a problem student. "I'll give you another hint, then." She glanced up with an unusually sharp look and the crease of a smirk on her lips. "His mask fell apart that day, and you left him there to die."

The answer dropped into her mind like a hammer, and she wondered how she had ever overlooked such a place.

"Kaminejima," Kallen breathed, eyes widening.

"That's where your enemy lies in wait," C.C. said, nodding, "Tell Zero to head there and wait for us. He'll know where to go, but he won't be able to reach our target until I arrive."

"Why-" she began, furrowing her brow in annoyance and the never ending mysteries that kept standing her way, but she was cut off with a look.

"Like I said, it's annoying to explain twice, so you'll just have to wait," the witch interrupted briskly. "By the way, before we go, I should get Lelouch. I think he's still sleeping, the lazy bum."

For Kallen, it was like all the air had been sucked out of the room, and her heart skipped a beat, muscles tensing worse than before a battle. Her eyes tracked C.C.'s slow, deliberate strides towards the still open bedroom.

_No way. No way. No way. After all this, after that recording, after leading us on a chase around half the world, he's still…._

Kallen shook her head, trying to clear it of the thoughts that were threatening to overwhelm her. She tried to open her mouth, to say… something. Anything. But nothing came out.

All she could do was watch C.C. disappear into the bedroom, and hear her voice, somehow low and echoing, as though from a distant star.

"Ah, there you are, Lelouch," came the witch's chiding tone. "Come on, get up, get up."

_Wait, since there's only one bedroom in this place… and probably one bed… does that mean…_

Her cheeks flushed, and her fists clenched in a sudden wash of righteous feminine fury.

"Here he is," C.C. announced cheerfully. "Now we can go."

And the wave of righteous feminine fury was doused completely at the sight before her, and her every muscle unclenched, not in relief, but in sheer, dumbfounded shock at what her eyes were apparently telling her was in front of her.

"C.C.?"

The witch tilted her head quizzically. "Yes, what is it?"

Kallen wasn't sure how to phrase her question, how to phrase a reply, even. Finally, she just went with what was obvious, and pointed at 'Lelouch'.

"… that's a turtle."

"And his name is Lelouch," C.C. said, nodding, giving her a mild look that plainly followed up with '_And your point is?_' Secured firmly between the witch's piano thin fingers, Lelouch the turtle lifted its head up once, snapped, and then settled back down. It was a small thing, just barely the size of her hand, and was kind of cute in a reptilian sort of way, she supposed.

She opened her mouth once, twice, three times, but only silence. Finally, with a voice that sounded like a trauma victim after the incident, "… you named your turtle Lelouch?"

"It's ridiculously slow and has an inordinate amount of pride for such a small creature," C.C. replied amusedly, moving towards the kitchen, where a small, clear carrying cage for the turtle sat waiting. "I thought it was fitting. I'm taking him with us because it could be a long trip and he tends to get rather cranky if I leave him alone."

Kallen shook her head. "You never stop surprising me."

C.C. gave her a bemused look as she deposited Lelouch the turtle into the cage and lifted it up, holding it casually in her right arm. "Of course. I'm C.C."

They shared a brief smile, and for a moment, at least, all the harsh words and cold silences and misunderstandings between them faded, and they were simply two old friends who hadn't spoke in a long time and were finally managing to rekindle the old relationship.

But, in this world, such warm moments aren't meant to last, especially not with such dark forces gathering on the horizon.

"We interrupt this program with a special announcement, taking you live now to Tokyo Haneda Airport, where her majesty Empress Nunnally Lamperouge's plane has just arrived," came Milly's cheerful, familiar tone, and her smiling face appeared on the parapet of the landing strip where the Imperial jet sat waiting.

"So Nunnally already left for Tokyo, huh? Things are progressing faster than I thought," C.C. commented airily, and Kallen shot her a curious look.

_What does she mean by that? _

Before she could follow up on the thought, Milly's voice broke into the silence, and a few minutes after that her suspicions were the farthest thing from her mind.

00000

Milly tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear, holding the hair down flat as the wind from passing jets (running escort duty for the Empress) that soared overhead. "The Empress has stated she has come to Japan on a strictly goodwill mission. Undoubtedly she wishes to speak with the National Diet of Japan regarding the recent decision to vote no confidence in Prime Minister Ougi, as well as the motion to secede from the Empire…"

She trailed off, catching sight of armed guards fanning out from the buildings into a perimeter in front of the door of the airplane. "It appears that the Empress is about to disembark from the plane," she announced, peering down the strip. "This goodwill mission has brought both criticism and praise from members of the Empire, some of whom believe the Empress is being too lenient on the Japanese secessionist movement, while others are praising her determination to use diplomacy over military force."

The wind picked up, a howling gale, like wolves moving in for the kill. Somehow, Milly had a very bad feeling in her gut.

"These past few days have been a dark time in the Empress' reign, but I personally believe that she has borne them with greater strength and perseverance than any ruler of Brittania that came before her," she said slowly, and the cold chill in her heart grew. "Her refusal to allow this conflict to escalate has given many hope that a war can still be avoided, and so they welcome her arrival with open arms-"

And that's when Nunnally's plane exploded in a whirlwind force of violence and flame and noise, and everything suddenly went horribly, horribly wrong.

00000

"Oh God."

If believing Lelouch was alive earlier had felt like all the air being sucked out of the room, this was the feeling of having all things warm and good being drained out of the world, like some hungry shadow gnawed away the sun. Outside, she could still hear the peaceful noises of the ocean's gentle ebb and flow, the squawks of seagulls being heard from far away, deafened by the overwhelming, choking silence that strangled everything.

The television screen showed only fire now, scrambling bodies trying to put out the wreckage, trying to hope against hope that something, anything could have survived that.

Kallen clasped her hands over her mouth, and her eyes welled up, stinging so badly as unbidden tears started leaked from the corners of her eyes.

Nunnally was…

"Come on," C.C.'s voice was distant and rough, and Kallen barely acknowledged the other woman's hand grasping her wrist and tugging her towards the door. "We need to go."

Her feet were glued to floor, and she couldn't even process the words.

Just what… what were they supposed to do now? Without Nunnally, the world seemed colder, and darker. Would Brittania be able to continue as it was without its peace loving Empress?

"Kallen."

She looked up, meeting C.C.'s cool eyed, but otherwise expressionless gaze. If she had been in a better state of mind she might have realized it was too calm- but right C.C.'s ability to remain objective was a crutch she needed to keep herself stable.

"I know what just happened is terrible," she said, tone gentler than normal, "But with this, our job is more important than ever. Call Suzaku, tell him to meet us at Kaminejima."

Shakily, Kallen wiped away the errant tears with the back of her hand, swallowed, throat tight, and dipped her head in a shallow nod.

_ Nunnally… at least you're with your brother now. _She shut her eyes, not wanting to break just yet.

When this was over, when they'd caught the bastards who'd done this… then she'd cry.

Until then, Kallen would carry on, and fight for the memory of those she'd lost. She'd done it before after all, and she was getting rather good at it.

00000

The fork clattered onto the cheap plastic table from Gino's nerveless hands as his mouth fell open, eyes wide like saucers as he watched the screen playing out before him in the command tent.

The MRE (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) in front of him was already fairly unappealing, as was the case with most field rations (another reason Gino had gone into the Knights of Round as opposed to the military), but now, with his stomach dropping like an elevator with the cables cut from the top floor, he was definitely not hungry anymore.

This was bad. No, bad was an understatement. Bad stopped being an appropriate adjective three days ago when this base was destroyed. The point where they'd been screwed was when the media found out about what really happened here. Up the creek without a paddle was when Japan moved to secede.

At this point, saying the situation was completely FUBAR-ed might not even work right now.

There was only one thing he could say at a time like this.

"_Fuck_."

He stood up, abandoning the meal. He needed to act, and fast.

"Keima!" Gino barked, abandoning his usual friendly tone, panic and necessity overriding his normally genial nature. "I need you in here!"

"I'm already here, sir."

"Thanks, Keima," the former Knight of Three said slowly, turning his head to acknowledge his executive officer.

What he saw was not something he expected.

After all, it was pretty damn hard to hear your own Lieutenant's voice and expect a firing squad standing right behind you.

Keima pushed his glasses up, face expressionless as he stood behind the stony faced wall of men between him and what was likely his former commander "I'm sorry about this, Colonel Weinberg, but these orders come from the Chief Cabinet Secretary. You're to resign your command here at Shiroda forward base. I'll need your sidearm."

The five Black Knights leveling their rifles at him said nothing, eyes cold, and he knew there was no reasoning with any of them. They had followed him out of duty, not out of loyalty.

"Since when do you take orders from Hideyoshi, Keima!" Gino snapped furiously, narrowing his eyes, fists clenched so tight they felt like the knuckles would burst through his skin. "What about the Prime Minister?"

"Prime Minister Ougi is being detained as we speak," the Lieutenant informed him coldly, "He is being asked to resign his post, to avoid the humiliation of a vote of no confidence."

"Asked? This is a fucking coup de tat, Keima, and you know it! They just killed the Empress, for God's sake!" the ex-knight slammed his fist down on the table, scattering the remnants of his MRE onto the table. "Since when did you support the separatist movement?"

"I love my country, sir," Keima said softly, and, for a moment, he looked pained, a man trapped between loyalty to the military and loyalty to his country. "I don't want war, but if this is the road my country decides to take, I must follow. I will not fight my own countrymen."

Their eyes met, Keima's pained brown meeting Gino's furious blue.

"Please, Colonel. Don't resist," he pleaded quietly, glancing away. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

Gino's flexed his fists. Good as he was, he couldn't take five armed men at point blank range, and even if he did, there were too many men here who were likely under the control of Hideyoshi and the secessionist movement now. A firing squad and his lieutenant were one thing, but an entire regiment was a different story.

"Fine," he muttered suddenly, slowly, deliberately laying his sidearm down on the table. "This meal tasted like crap anyway."

Keima's lips twitched, one of the few times his jokes actually made the stony faced Lieutenant smile. One of the Black Knights moved forward and took the gun from the table, handing it over to the Lieutenant.

"Oh, now you laugh at my jokes," Gino joked, grinning. _If you can't go down swinging, go down laughing, right? _

Keima pocketed Gino's gun, paused, and, after a moment of deliberation, saluted crisply. "For what it's worth, it's been a pleasure, sir."

"Wish I could say the same," the former Knight of Three replied, shaking his head. "But circumstances being what they are, I'd be lying."

They shared a brief grin, before the moment faded, and Keima looked away again.

"Take him out back," he instructed, sounding hollow and tired. "You know what to do after that."

The Black Knight in the center, a barrel-chested Corporal, stepped forward, prodding Gino with the barrel of the gun. "Arms up. Let's move, Colonel Weinberg," he ordered, tone gravelly. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be."

"Yeah, yeah, I got you, no need to push," the ex-knight muttered, shaking his head, holding up his arms in the classic 'surrender' pose as he was marched out of the tent.

He risked a glance around. Outside, the protestors remained barred from entrance, likely oblivious to the sudden coup that was taking place in Japan right this very moment. They'd taken advantage of Nunnally's kindness and used it to decapitate the Brittanian government with a single stroke. With the Empire scrambling to regain control, Japan could easily pull together a new army out of secessionist Black Knights and whatever forces they were keeping in reserve. Xing-ke would be forced to respond, and who knew which side Toudou would take?

What's more, without its peace minded Empress, Brittania would abandon its attempts at diplomacy in favor of military force to strike back at Japan in outrage at this assassination, and everything they'd been working to prevent would come to pass.

Gino gritted his teeth. _We've been played so easily._

Was Ougi even alive right now? Were they just going to shoot him too?

No, they couldn't yet. They were trying this as official as possible. Killing off a Colonel was one thing, but killing a Prime Minister would cause a mess of problems that they couldn't afford right now.

Besides, Zero was with him. If anyone could manage this crisis now, it would be him.

Unfortunately, it also meant Zero was all the way in Tokyo, along with whatever other allies that Gino had, and that they were all far, far away from Kyuushu, too far to help him.

_Never thought this would be how I'd go out_, Gino thought, more glum than frightened of the impending execution. _Always figured I'd go down a little more… heroically? _

His lips quirked_. I never even managed to get a date of Kallen._

Speaking of whom… he was grateful she was out of the country for this. Hopefully she would get the news and stay far, far away, and not let her feelings get involved. Brittania would need her, odd as it sounded.

"This is far enough, Colonel," said the Corporal from earlier. "Turn around."

The familiarity of the sound of rifles being cocked and ready caused a bit of melancholy in him.

Was this all he'd known throughout his life? Fighting?

Seemed like kind of a waste now.

"Don't I get a last request?" Gino asked lightly, the corner of his lip curling up in the barest crease of a smile as he kept holding his arms up. "You know, a cigarette or a kiss or something?"

He paused, as if considering something, and tilted his head. "Well, not a kiss from any of you, of course. I'd much rather a pretty girl. Redhead, if possible. I like redheads."

"Sorry, no last requests today," the corporal replied icily.

"Not even a blindfold?" Gino continued airily, raising his eyebrow. "You guys are a terrible execution squad. Aren't you supposed to tie me up against wooden pole with a white blindfold and a cigarette? And you're supposed to have some guy having a dramatic count to three. Or is it three and then go? Does anybody know which it is?"

"You're a funny man, Colonel," the other man said, a hint of bemusement in his voice, and cracked a faint smile.

"I try," Gino quipped, smiling back.

The corporal warm expression faded, and he jerked his head coldly.

"Shoot him."

The terrible sound of gunshots, a manmade rumble of thunder, rang out.

And, like a falling star from Heaven, a body fell to the barren, empty ground, lifeless.

Author's Notes

Again, in case you missed the note in the previous chapter, I am now breaking up the last two chapters into two parts, as, like many readers noted, the length of the chapters was a bit clunky and harder to read.

This chapter's title is a reference to one of the chapters of Bleach, the full title being Countdown to the End: 1 (Only Mercifully).

Hanekoma Tokugawa, Hideyoshi's aide, is also a nod to another character in The World Ends with You. His first name is a taken from Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose first name went to Hanekoma's boss.

Corporal Satonaka is a reference to Persona 4's Satonaka Chie.

Why Cancun? Because it's beautiful, and hey, why not have C.C. living it up as best she can, right? I never understood why people always make her (and sometimes Lelouch) live in someplace cold or something. Lelouch the turtle is one of my personal favorite scenes. I might write a fic in the future that features him and C.C. more prominently.

The line from this last scene where the corporal goes "You're a funny man" is taken from Casino Royale's torture scene.


	5. Part V: To Strive, To Seek, To Find

Part V: To Strive, To Seek, To Find

_Where will all the martyrs go when the virus cures itself?  
And where will we all go when it's too late?__  
_-"Letterbomb", by Green Day

"What do you mean Toudou isn't available! Where is he!" Xing-ke snapped furiously, slamming his fist into the wood of his desk, sending pictures and papers scattering to the floor like snowfall from nuclear winter. The officer on the phone fell silent before his commander's fury.

The walls of his modest office were bare, as if all decoration stripped away by the commander's fury. It contained only a desk, a computer, three chairs (one behind the desk and two in front), and a television screen, a testament to the Spartan décor Xing-ke preferred.

Zhou Xianglin, his executive officer since he'd been in the Chinese Federation's military, placed a calming hand on his shoulder, looking concerned. "Commander, please, your health…"

He brushed her away, too focused on the phone right now.

"I'm sorry sir," came the officer's subdued, nervous tone, "He's still sequestering himself in his private residence. We've sent officers, but Colonel Nagisa has sent them away."

"The Empress is dead and he's staying neutral?" the Commander of the Black Knights spat incredulously, eyes wide. "Damn him!"

A stab of pain, like white hot knives slicing through his veins, came suddenly, and he gave out a low groan, clutching his chest, hacking violently.

"Xing-ke-san!" Xianglin paled and moved to support him, but he brushed her aside. He paid her no mind still.

"What about Cornelia?" he asked, voice hoarse with barely suppressed agony. "We haven't had any word from her for more than a day."

"No one's seen her yet, sir, but considering the situation in Japan she's like gone to ground or been captured," the officer informed him.

Xing-ke bit out a violent curse in his native tongue, and scowling. "My Chief of Staff isn't taking sides, and the Commander of the Police is completely AWOL. Goddamnit." He glanced at Xianglin, before instructing, in a voice that was laced with barely checked irritation, "Tell Guilford to do what he can to contain this incident. We need to secure the wreckage of the Empress' plane, and get some answers. I don't care what the Japanese government says, our authority supersedes theirs right now."

"Understood, sir," the officer said quietly.

He set the phone down and sank back into his chair, closing his eyes and exhaling with an exhausted sigh. "What word from Chairwoman Kaguya and the Council?" he asked tiredly.

"Kaguya is organizing another emergency session of the Council. Right now the distribution of the Empress' powers in this time is unknown… we never prepared for such a thing," Xianglin reported, a harried tone in her voice.

"Damn it… we were too naive," Xing-ke cursed, before another, more violent coughing fit overtook him, and he was forced to cover his mouth reflexively as small spatters of blood covered his desk.

Concerned, she leaned forward, offering him a handkerchief, which he took gratefully.

"I'm not long for this world, Xianglin," he whispered tiredly, shaking his head. "I can't take command here… I need someone else to be the leader for this situation. As much as I hate to admit it… We need help."

The silent question was left hanging in the air, as weighty and crushing as a corpse hanging from the ceiling.

But who is there left to help us, they both wondered.

00000

Suzaku could count the two times he'd had a complete and total breakdown of his (admittedly fragile) mental stability. The first was Euphie's death, a madness of blood and rage and betrayal. The second was the aftermath of the FLEIJA bomb, which had been a cold, silent madness, something that wrested away all of his pretty ideals and self deceptions.

This was not a breakdown, but it was damn near close.

The television screen on the wall was oblivious to his agony, continuing its merciless coverage of Nunnally's death.

_("You're not Onii-sama," said the tiny, blind slip of a girl that his father had said was a princess. "What's your name? _

_ "Kururugi Suzaku," he said in reply._

_ "I'm Nunnally, Suzaku-san. It's very nice to meet you."And she smiled, and it was one of the most brilliant things he had ever seen in his young life._

_ "It's... uh… nice to meet you too," he replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.)_

His strength seemed to have left him, and he collapsed, leaning against Ougi's desk, chest tight, constricted, as if no air could get into his lungs. The spacious walls of the office, decorated with pictures and a large, dominating bookshelf opposite the television, seemed to be closing in on him.

Ougi leaned in next to him, looking at him concernedly.

"Are you alright, Zero?" he asked, voice shaky. He was trembling.

_I couldn't protect her. Once again, I couldn't protect…_

Suzaku sucked in a breath. Now was not the time.

"No," he admitted, "But that's not the issue. Right now, we need to get moving and secure the…" _God she can't be_ "… the wreckage," he finished, half choked.

Dazed, the Prime Minister nodded in agreement, and reached over to the intercom.

"I'll have our men over there immediately," he said, voice unsteady.

But before he had even pushed the button, the door burst open and two of the Black Knights stepped into the room briskly, looking stern.

"Ah, you're here," Ougi said, sounding relieved, "We need to get moving right away-"

Suddenly, a familiar sensation overtook Suzaku's senses, and a single word boomed throughout his psyche like the voice of a god.

_ (LIVE)_

In an instant, his reflexes, already at the peak of human ability, were sharpened by Lelouch's Geass order, and he took in the entire situation in a glance, with a speed that Lelouch himself would have been impressed with.

Suzaku saw, in slow motion, the Black Knights reaching for the safeties on their firearms, leveling them directly at him- at this range, they wouldn't even need to aim.

It came together in his mind like pieces of a puzzle, all these things suddenly coming into sharp focus.

They would assassinate Zero, the most powerful symbol of the new empire, and take Ougi hostage, forcing him to abdicate and giving power to Hideyoshi and the anti-Brittanian movement.

It would completely cripple the Empire, which had just lost its leader, and leave it staggering, the momentum to stop this coup de tat forgotten, and plunging the world into the kind of chaos it had not seen since the days when Lelouch reigned as Zero.

_ Not under my watch. _

In a flash, Suzaku leapt forward and delivered a crushing snap kick to the closest member of the Black Knights, sending him crashing backwards, straight back out into the hallway and into a wall with an audible crack. Before the remaining enemy could turn and react, Suzaku, still hyped up on adrenaline and the coercive power of Geass, lashed out with a roundhouse kick to the man's ribs, sending him crashing into the bookshelf against one of the walls, slumping bonelessly to the ground as a rain of heavy books covered his unconscious body.

It was over in seconds, and Ougi had barely finished his sentence and realized the men had been aiming at him before Zero dropped the two men and put them into unconsciousness. And he stood still in shock, unable to believe that two of his own soldiers had just attempted to remove him from power, until Zero pressed a rifle roughly into his hands and pushed him away from the doorway.

"It's a coup," Suzaku hissed, holding the other rifle and pointing it cautiously at the door. "We need to get out of here. Where's the nearest exit?"

They had based the new Diet building off of the old Brittanian government building in design- it was a veritable fortress, and it had to have several different escape routes already planned out.

Briefly, he cursed himself for not bothering to study the layout of the building beforehand. Sloppy.

"I…" Ougi swallowed, and straightened. "There's a hangar three floors down. There should still be a plane down there- I took it here from New Pendragon when all this started."

_That's three floors too many_, Zero thought to himself, but resigned himself. Policing a grenade from the belt of one of the unconscious soldiers, he motioned for Ougi to follow him towards the door, where he peered cautiously out into the hallway. Seeing no one, he sprinted for the elevators, which were around the corner and behind a set of double doors, the Minister following close behind.

They were nearly to the elevator when the doors burst open and five Black Knights came in. Suzaku barely had time to register their presence before they raised their weapons and opened fire.

"Halt!" one of them, with the insignia of a Sergeant, barked.

Zero grabbed Ougi by the wrist, kicked open the closest office door, and threw him inside, just in time to avoid the first hail of gunfire.

"Damn," Suzaku swore. Without poking his head out, he pointed the rifle around the corner of the door and squeezed off a quick burst of blind fire. He didn't expect to hit anything, but he hoped that it would keep them from storming the room. With their superior numbers and firepower, even his superhuman reflexes under the Geass would eventually falter, especially if he had to protect Ougi.

"We need another route," he said hurriedly, and fired another burst of blind fire around the corner. He glanced around the room- it was a windowless office, facing inward into the building- only one way in or out.

He was about to curse again, when suddenly the gunfire suddenly ceased, leaving a curiously empty silence in its wake.

Ougi and Suzaku shared a bewildered, suspicious glance.

"They might be sneaking up," Zero whispered, and jerked his head for Ougi to position himself behind a bookshelf, just out of the line of sight of the door. Slowly, creeping forward, he made his way toward the door.

Sure enough, he could hear the sound of footsteps making their way down the hallway. Heavy footsteps.

Giving a steady nod to Ougi, Suzaku took a deep breath, and burst out of the room, whirling about, leveling his gun at-

"Jeremiah?" he blinked.

"Glad to see your reflexes haven't dulled," the cyborg knight complimented, smiling cordially, "But could you please lower the gun, Zero?"

Suzaku glanced behind Jeremiah, moving the gun away as he did so, recognizing the figure behind the knight. "Minami-san?"

Minami gave him an acknowledging nod, even as he policed the last of the weapons from the soldiers.

"We fought our way up here after realizing what was happening," Jeremiah informed him quickly. "They've taken over all the offices- no one in the public knows what's happening yet though."

Suzaku swallowed, dipping his head ever so slightly in understanding at how broad this coup actually ran. Something big was working against them, some kind of threat they hadn't seen- there was no way the separatist faction in Japan had thought of this entire scenario on their own.

_Kallen, wherever you are, you'd better get back here with C.C. soon. _

"For now, I believe we should escape." The knight glanced about. "Do you have the Prime Minister?"

Zero nodded, and Ougi stepped out of the room cautiously. Minami rushed over to him, a relieved look on his face.

"I'm glad you're safe, sir," he said quickly, bowing his head respectfully.

"You too, Minami. What about the others?" the Minister asked, half dreading the answer.

Minami sighed, pinching his nose in frustration. "Hideyoshi's men have taken over. This was very well planned- the soldiers here are loyal to him, and because of that no one will dare speak out against him, even if they oppose him."

Ougi frowned. "As long as no one tried to be a martyr," he muttered, sounding older than he was. "No one should have to die for this."

Jeremiah coughed. "I apologize, Minister, Minami-san, but we must leave immediately. More guards are on their way. I've already made the arrangements for our escape."

"Wait!" the minister blurted, eyes widening. "My family! We need to get them-"

A calming hand was placed on his shoulder, and Ougi glanced back to see Zero's mask behind him.

"Panic won't serve us," Suzaku said quietly, trying to inject a note of comfort into his tone. He was Zero now, no longer a man but the symbol of justice for the world- he had to be level-headed, ready to lead through this crisis, regardless of his own personal feelings and sorrows. "If we don't escape no one will be able to help your family."

"I… You're right," the Prime Minister admitted, sighing, but his fists remained tense, the violent protectiveness of a father and husband barely kept in check.

"Don't worry," Jeremiah assured him, and all eyes turned towards the knight, who smiled. "There's no cause for concern. We've already anticipated this, and I've sent our most trustworthy agent to protect your family."

00000

"God damn it!" Tamaki swore loudly, delivering a swift haymaker to the jaw of the last unfortunate member of the Black Knights who attempted to cross the threshold of the bar and take the Prime Minister's family hostage. "I only had a few payments left on this place, and these pricks go and destroy my door!"

Though, to be honest, it wasn't just the wooden door that was destroyed in the bar now. The windows at the entrance were also shattered, as were a few bottles behind the bar counter that had accidentally been shot while the first Black Knights attempted to breach the entrance, the glass shards littering the floor in a manner that should have pissed him off, but he was more preoccupied at the moment with hoping the whole bistro wouldn't be destroyed by tomorrow.

Behind him, Viletta raised a rifle she had policed from one of the unconscious Black Knights, covering his back in a practiced military sweep, ready to fire at the next figure who attempted to breach the bar. Though she had not been on the battlefield for years, she was still an ex-officer of the Brittanian military, and some instincts weren't so easily forgotten.

"Ayame's got the kids barricaded upstairs," Tamaki said breathlessly, grabbing a pistol off of another one of the prone soldiers on the floor. "You should go up there. I got this."

"Don't be stupid," Viletta muttered, giving him a severe look as she pushed a table up against the now broken door to act as a barrier. "If you think you can just shuffle me off to the sidelines just because I'm a woman-"

"You're my friend's wife and a mom, y'know!" he refuted, crossing his arms as he moved behind a wall next to the door. "It's a man's job to protect people."

"I'm pretty sure I have a higher rating in battle than you," she reminded him, narrowing her eyes.

She was about to add another stinging statement to her tirade when she noticed movement beyond the door and fired off a quick burst from the rifle, sending the would-be invaders scattering again. She doubted she would hit anything, firing basically blindly, but buying time was more important than killing.

"But… you're a…" Tamaki began again, before Viletta shot him a withering glare.

"If you say 'you're a woman', Tamaki, I am going to kick you straight in the crotch. With a smile."

He swallowed, throat tight, and looked away. _Ougi man, your wife is one scary lady. _

Their banter was interrupted suddenly by a loud, booming voice echoing out of some kind of amplifier or speaker.

"Ougi Viletta, we know you're in there. We have the perimeter completely secured. Surrender and come out peacefully, and we will spare your children."

"Bullshit," Tamaki muttered, glaring at the unseen enemies on the other side of the wall. "They want control of the government- they'll only keep the kids alive until Ougi gives them power!"

Viletta agreed with the sentiment, but couldn't reply as the amplified voice came through again.

"If you refuse our terms, we will have no choice but to use lethal force, as authorized by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideyoshi."

The two of them shared a glance.

"Last chance," Tamaki offered, grinning morbidly.

"And leave you here to defend us? I'd be better off running through that crowd myself," Viletta joked back.

They shared a brief, determined grin, ready to die at a moment's notice.

"Crazy how this finally went down though," he commented, scratching the back of his head and wrinkling his nose, "I mean we lived through Lelouch, man. And now we get taken out by some nobody punk."

She nodded, privately agreeing that it was ridiculous to have escaped death from the hands of so many more dangerous men to fall here. But, she steeled herself- they weren't dead yet, and as long as she could breathe she would fight to make sure her children were safe.

A staccato burst of gunfire rang out, and Viletta shut her eyes briefly. _Ougi… I-_

Her wishes to her husband were interrupted by the sounds of screaming and bodies falling replacing the gunfire.

"What was that?" Tamaki sputtered, glancing about wildly, clutching his gun tightly.

"It's coming from outside," Viletta said quickly, and hesitantly took a peek outside.

What happened in the next few moments would remain etched in both hers and Tamaki's mind forever, and the recording of which would become legend amongst military academies the world over.

00000

"_Remember, this, daughter. When facing many enemies, no mercy can be shown. Reducing the number of threats, whether through lethal force or destruction of morale, is key. As the next master of the Shinozaki school, your duty to those you are sworn to protect goes above all else." _

_ I remember, father. _

"Who the-"

One swiftly thrown kunai, one kill.

"Where the hell-"

Sayoko disliked killing as a rule, but she was also a student of the deadly arts, and as such preparation to do so was ingrained in her heart. And right now, taking on a squad of Black Knights, alone, she could not afford to hesitate.

There were eight of them left standing in a semi-circle on the street, guarding the entrance to Tamaki's bar, waiting to breach. Traffic had been blocked off, on either side of the street- Sayoko had slipped past the blockade before, but it was likely she'd have to fight her way back out. There were likely more guards as well, posted around the side entrances in the alleyways on either side of the building, but right now she was more concerned with dealing with the larger group first.

With a sprinting start, she kicked off the ground and leapt high overhead, hurling several more knives down onto the soldiers who were still scrambling to realize they were under attack. She struck home with another two, hitting their necks with pinpoint accuracy.

They were dead before they hit the ground.

She landed behind the squad, which now only consisted of six men. The element of surprise was still with her, if only for a few more seconds, and she would have to do as much as possible in this timeframe.

Quickly grabbing another kunai from her thigh holster, she whipped her hand out like a lash and threw it, striking another soldier between the eyes. Grabbing two more kunai, Sayoko sprang forward into their midst, a whirlwind dervish of blades at a range that made rifles useless. She slashed out the throats of two more men in a single quick movement, fluid and deadly, like flowing water.

Another soldier brought his gun to bear on her, eyes wide with terror and fright, almost childlike. But there was no pity in her heart, not now, not when she was prepared to kill- another core part of her training. In a flash, she stepped inside his guard and rammed her kunai into his chest, kicking the body towards one of his compatriots, who floundered beneath the weighty corpse of his comrade, until Sayoko eased his burden by putting a knife between his eyes.

The last of the soldiers dropped his gun and fled in terror. Sayoko almost let him go, but she knew that if she let him go he'd only end up bringing more reinforcements- with so many people to evacuate out of this area, including Ougi's children, bringing more danger onto them would be irresponsible. With a hint of regret, she hurled another kunai, burying it between his shoulder blades.

"Tamaki-san, Viletta-san, it's me, Shinozaki Sayoko," she announced, keeping her eyes open for any sign of reinforcements as she spoke, without looking, to the occupants of the bar.  
"I've taken care of the guards outside, but please wait a moment while I make sure the area is secure."

Just as she finished speaking, a flash of movement, to the left, appeared at the edges of her vision, and Sayoko sprang backwards, just in time to avoid a deafening burst of fire that pounded and shattered the concrete where she had previously been standing, leaving several fist sized craters in its wake.

_No singular person could carry that caliber of rifle… this has to be…_

Sayoko glanced up, and, with a hint of dread, confirmed it.

Standing over her, a metal demon of violence and destruction, was a Sutherland Knightmare Frame. While outdated, functioning mostly as armored attachments to the Black Knight's police squads, they were still terrifyingly powerful against anything short of another Knightmare Frame. Coated black to confirm its service to the Black Knights, it was armed with a standard rifle for Knightmare Frames, which had the power to punch through a tank's armor with ease and reduce buildings to rubble.

Without mercy, the Sutherland raised that same rifle, and opened fire.

Sayoko leapt to the side, but the Knightmare frame tracked her movements, keeping a continuous rate of fire that continued tearing apart the sidewalk. She kicked off the wall of Tamaki's bar to avoid being trapped, moving to the opposite side of the empty middle of the street, considering her options- the only weapons available were her kunai and whatever weapons the soldiers she just killed had dropped. Backup was impossible to get in time.

Conventional tactics told her to retreat and regroup, to find a way to even the difference in sheer firepower and defensive capability between them. To do that, however, would be to abandon everyone inside the bar to the mercy of the insurrection.

Which meant she'd have to take down this Knightmare on her own.

Absurd.

But it was her only option if she was going to protect these people.

The Knightmare took aim again, and Sayoko took her chance, darting, not away, not to dodge and retreat and inevitably get shot, but towards the Knightmare, running so that she was underneath the Knightmare, between its legs. As the pilot scrambled to reorient himself, she sprinted off behind the Sutherland, down the street again, ducking out behind the alleyway one building over from Tamaki's bar.

A noise behind her startled her, and Sayoko whirled about, knife held high, coming face to face with the startled, bearded face of a homeless man, who had been hiding out in this alley.

"My apologies," she said quickly, and the man fled in terror, leaving her alone once again- except for the five ton death machine actively searching for her, that is. Still, as she ducked down the alleyway and into a conjoining one, making sure to keep to places too small for a Knightmare Frame to fit in comfortably, she managed to keep the machine off her proverbial scent.

Eventually, after a few minutes of scanning the street, the undoubtedly frustrated pilot activated the Factsphere contained in the Sutherland's 'head', scanning the area for her, that distinct beep of the Knightmare's proverbial eyes echoing throughout the street, revealing her location in an instant.

Glancing over at the machine, which continued to run its scans, Sayoko suddenly knew there was a way to win.

Nothing was invincible, not even a Knightmare Frame. It was just a matter of knowing when, where, and how to strike.

Taking a few slow, careful steps forward until she reached the end of the alleyway she'd moved to, and the shifting and using that same sprinting start and kick off the ground to get herself high in the air, Sayoko took aim at the Sutherland's Factsphere, praying her years of training and effort would not fail her at this one critical moment.

The kunai soared in a perfect movement, perfectly aimed and balanced against the wind, soaring straight towards the target-

And just at that moment, the pilot shifted ever so slightly, and her kunai bounced off, ricocheting off of the side of the head of the Sutherland instead of piercing the sensor.

If Sayoko had been the type to swear, she would have done so, with gratuity. Instead, she gritted her teeth and used her momentum to flip through the air again, trying to keep the pilot's aim off balance as she waited for another opportunity to strike- even a glancing hit from the Knightmare Frame's rifle would probably kill her.

The Sutherland opened fire again, turning the ground next to her into a cloud of dust, sending a piece of cement shrapnel close enough to her to cut a slight furrow in her cheek- not enough to draw blood, thankfully, but it stung nonetheless.

Narrowing her eyes, Sayoko sprang forward again, lunging between the Knightmare's legs again. Only this time, instead of just running straight past it, she spun a kunai in her hands and stabbed it straight down, jamming it into the Landspinner of the Sutherland, the mechanism which allowed it to move, and then sprinting off behind the Knightmare.

The Sutherland turned rapidly to take aim at her again, tearing off down the street like a rampaging demon, gun raised to turn her into so much fine red mist-

When the kunai that she had jammed into the Landspinner suddenly came into effect, and one of the Sutherland's legs suddenly stalled, while the other continued to advance, causing it to stumble forward, one gigantic metal knee crashing into the concrete of the street.

On reflex, with its pilot's equilibrium and sense of the world disrupted, the Factsphere in the Knightmare's head opened up again-

And Sayoko threw her kunai again, punching straight through the Factsphere, effectively blinding the Knightmare.

Now, without its sensors, the pilot wouldn't be able to notice her attack. With a bounding, running leap, she landed atop the still kneeling Knightmare's 'back', on top of its cockpit unit, and stabbed a kunai into the external panel, causing the hatch to open a fraction, just enough for Sayoko see inside and get a glimpse of the pilot, who was still scrambling to right his machine and didn't even realize his cockpit had already been breached.

Before he could get his machine upright, he was stopped by a sudden and fatal pain in his neck, courtesy of Sayoko's last kunai.

00000

"That," Tamaki breathed, eyes wide from his position at the door of his destroyed bistro (which hardly seemed important in the face of what he had just witnessed), "Was the coolest thing I have ever seen."

And to that, Viletta could only nod in dumbfounded agreement.

00000

Neither Kallen nor C.C. said a word as they left the house. The only words spoken were to the cab driver C.C. wordlessly waved over once they reached a main road, and those were directions to wherever she was intending to take them.

Kallen herself didn't hear the directions that well (and barely even realized that C.C. spoke fluent Spanish, a notion that would have amused her had any other time, but right now barely served as an afterthought), as though the bomb blast that had killed- no, that wasn't right- _murdered_ Nunnally had deafened her to everything.

It was all over. Even if they stopped… whoever was behind this, what did it matter? Who else but Nunnally could have kept this peaceful world intact? She was the sweetest, kindest girl Kallen had ever met, and now she was dead, murdered because she was too nice for her own good.

_Why didn't Lelouch plan for_ this, she thought bitterly. He had planned for everything else before this, so why not this? He knew Nunnally- she was his beloved little sister, for God's sake, the one he swore to protect and burned the entire world for- he should have known she would do that, and that someone would try to kill her.

"Get ahold of yourself," C.C. said suddenly, looking out the window of the cab, chin resting in the palm of her hand.

"How can you be so calm, goddamnit?" Kallen swore, whirling on her, suddenly enraged. The cab driver up front jerked, startled, but quickly realized it was only a squabble between the two women in the back, and brushed it off.

It wasn't the first time he'd had some kind of lesbian lover's quarrel in the back anyway.

"Because panic and despair won't help anyone, least of all the dead," C.C. rebuked distantly, eyes gazing far off into the horizon, as though she could see something Kallen couldn't. "Think about what you can still do, and do it. When this is all over, then you can cry and scream all you want, like a child."

Before Kallen could respond, the cab came to a stop, and C.C. spoke again. "We're here."

'Here' turned out to be a small private airfield, that looked like it needed several weeks of reroofing, filling in potholes, and a good hard scrubbing. The chain link fence was practically rotting away with rust, the tarmac was cracked in several places, and the walls of the hangar and control tower looked like they might have, at one time, been a proud red, but had long since worn down to black.

"Please tell me we're not hiring a pilot out of here," Kallen begged, shaking her head. "Why can't we just use a commercial jet?"

"Takes too long, and standard air traffic to Japan is going to be heavily watched from now on, by both sides," C.C. replied easily, striding towards one of the hangars, which was already open and lit. "And we're not hiring a pilot."

A figure approached them from the hangar, and Kallen, out of reflex due to recent events, moved towards her holster, but before she could C.C. stepped forward and shook the figure's hand.

** "Buenos días, **Señorita C.C.,"said the figure, a large, pot bellied but jolly looking man clad in a flamboyantly red Hawaiian shirt and white shorts, with a large, bushy mustache and overly large aviator sunglasses. "And a good morning to your lovely friend, as well," he added, switching languages, his accent thick but understandable.

Kallen nodded in greeting, still uncertain over this place.

"Flirt later, Marcus," C.C. cut in, striding towards the open hangar doors. "Is she fueled?"

"Just like you asked, señorita," Marcus said, nodding. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Just clear the runway, we're in a hurry," she said cuttingly, and waved him away.

Kallen followed her inside, where a single, tiny private plane sat, ramp stairs already set down upon the ground, awaiting their arrival. Unlike its surroundings, the silver-white plane looked brand new, state of the art, featuring sleek engines and a streamlined frame.

"That's our ride?" she asked, blinking.

C.C. nodded, smiling. "Do you like it? Another gift from Lelouch and the Imperial treasury."

"You had him buy you a plane?" Kallen said disbelievingly, eyes wide, and for the first time in over an hour the thoughts about Nunnally were driven from her mind.

"I hate flying commercial air," C.C. replied casually, shrugging as she stepped onto the ramp.

Kallen watched her go for a moment, unable to move due to sheer disbelief at how brazen the witch really was. This thing looked as if were worth more than her salary for the next four months, and C.C. just happened to have one on hand?

Finally, she started towards the stairs, when her original question finally returned to her.

"Wait, what about our pilot?" Kallen suddenly blurted.

C.C. glanced back at her from the top of the stairs, smiling cattily.

"You're looking at her."

00000

"You're telling me they escaped. All of them. Zero, Ougi, and even his family." Hideyoshi rubbed his temples, doing his best to remain calm, drawing back to the lessons he learned from Colonel Kusakabe, his mentor. Though the Colonel had died in the disastrous attempt to take the Kawaguchi hotel hostage, thanks to Zero's treachery, Hideyoshi still kept the lessons the man had passed on to him close to his heart, one of the foremost being to look at a bad situation and try to find the good points.

Hanekoma nodded hesitantly.

They had taken over Ougi's office, under the official pretext that Ougi was a traitor and fleeing government capture, leading Hideyoshi to temporarily hold the office. They hadn't yet cleaned up the broken bookshelf or the scattered number of books that littered the floor, the aftermath of Zero and Ougi's escape.

Hideyoshi blew out a low, steady breath. After a few more moments, his irritation passed, and his mind cleared again.

"It doesn't matter," he said slowly, leaning back into what was formerly Ougi's chair, the shade of a smile on his face. "Ougi has lost all influence and power, and we control Japan at the moment- they'll have to smuggle him out of the city if they want to try and stand against us. Sooner or later, he'll have to surface, and then we can crush him."

"What about the Black Knights? They'll be forced to respond," Hanekoma reminded him, fixing his glasses idly.

"Let them," Hideyoshi replied calmly, the smile becoming a full blown smirk now. "I've already entered talks with several other heads of state beforehand. They too, share our fear of a Brittanian hegemony, and should Brittania strike at us, they will join us in alliance, under the pretext of treaties we are currently drafting. In the meantime, we've managed to gain control of several Black Knight's bases, including the all important Shiroda base."

"And Toudou-san? Without him leading our forces, many of our allies are hesitant to go to war against Zero and Brittania," Hanekoma questioned, frowning. "Our mutual associate cannot do more than act in the shadows, you know that."

"Toudou-san will see that Japan needs him, and will do as he always has done," the Cabinet Secretary responded slyly. "I knew him, back when we fought for the Japanese Liberation Front. His first and foremost loyalty is to this country, and like so many of our soldiers, he will fight for us if he understands this is what Japan desires."

00000

It would have been a lie to say Guilford never once wished he could regain his eyes, lost in that FLEIJA blast, or that he still had the soldier's body he had once been proud to swear to the service of his princess. It pained him that he could no longer see his princess' visage, nor could he serve as her loyal sword as he once did, that he was no longer a man worthy to be called her knight.

But it was only today that Guilford truly realized just how much of his old self he had lost that day. In this time of crisis, with his princess missing in action, the Empress dead, and the world about to plunge into a bloody civil war, he was still hesitating.

The old Gilbert P. Guilford, Knight of Cornelia Li Brittania, would never have done that.

"Adjutant Guilford, your orders, sir."

Guilford straightened. Though he remained blind to physically see reports and receive visual information, Cornelia had dictated that all orders would therefore be issued in brail as well as normal, to accommodate her adjutant.

"Issue standing orders to all Black Knights Police currently stationed in Japan, to hold their positions and to perform only the minimum necessary self-defense to remain active and unharmed as they secure the wreckage of the Empress' plane and ensure the safety of VIP personnel. The priority is to secure Prime Minister Ougi, Zero, and" he hesitated, cursed himself, and continued, "And Commander Cornelia."

"Understood sir," the officer on the communication screen replied, and verbally repeated the orders to ensure understanding.

"We cannot let this grow out of control, but we need our forces there to find out what happened to the Empress and the Commander," Guilford ordered swiftly, trying his best to remember what he sounded like when he had commanded armies and fought in the seat of a Knightmare- tasks that seemed like they were part of a different man's life now.

"And the Shiroda forward base, sir? The secessionist forces have completely taken over there- we have no confirmation as to the status or whereabouts of Colonel Weinberg."

Guilford bit his lip, frowning. That was the focal point of this conflict, even more so than Tokyo- it was a Black Knight's base, meaning it was still officially designated as Brittanian territory, and to secede it to the rebellious Japanese forces would mean conceding to the enemy which had just murdered the Empress.

"Assemble all forces on standby, and prepare the 5th Airborne Fleet to mobilize," Guilford said briskly. "We have to secure that base and any of our soldiers still loyal to us there."

"We're going there ourselves, sir? But the Empress' orders said not to make any overt military maneuvers-" the officer began hesitantly, when he cut him off.

"The Empress is dead, soldier," Guilford said coldly, a rippling undercurrent of white hot fury beneath his tightrope steady voice.

"The time for half measures is over."

00000

"We can catch our breath here," Jeremiah assured them slowly, peering out through the window blinds to double check that they hadn't been followed. "It's a safe house we established a while ago, in case of emergency. The neighborhood is a former ghetto, so it's still mostly abandoned, and there shouldn't be anyone around here right now."

Suzaku glanced about, taking the room in with a glance. It was fairly barren, with generic teal carpeting on the floor, a single stiff looking couch, a large but simplistic lamp stand in the corner most opposite the door, with a small kitchen area complete with a sink, a fridge, several built-in cabinets, attached to the room and a single hallway that led to what Suzaku guessed was the bathroom and bedroom, possibly more than that, but the size of this safe house didn't ensure very much space.

_How well did Lelouch prepare everything for just this day_, Suzaku wondered to himself. _Is this why it took so long after the Damocles battle to culminate the Zero Requiem? Because he needed to finish the preparations for what would come after? _

He wanted to ask about Nunnally- why Lelouch hadn't taken more steps to ensure her safety. But he steeled himself and bit down those questions, for they were probably useless- the dead wouldn't give him any answers, not again.

No, the only time he'd let himself regret and be angry over Nunnally would be when all this was resolved… for now, the world needed him to be Zero, and that was what he would have do, so that Nunnally's dream, if not her life, would remain.

Beneath his gloves, his fists clenched, as though aching to break.

Ougi and Minami stepped inside behind him hesitantly, scanning the room, obviously still nervous about being in the custody of a man who had once been their enemy.

"Kaname!"

Ougi's hesitation was lost, however, as he heard a familiar voice, and his head jerked up just in time to see his wife's joyous face before she threw her arms around him, burying her face against his neck.

"Thank God you're safe," Viletta whispered softly, gratefully.

As for the Prime Minister, he himself said nothing, only relishing the soft, familiar warmth of his wife in his arms, a comfort he might have lost today.

"Minami! My man!" Tamaki's loud, boisterous voice suddenly broke into the moment, as he ran towards the surprised Minami and clasped his old comrade's hand.

"Tamaki?" Minami blinked. "You're here too?"

"Yeah, we've been here a while now. That ninja lady got us out of the bar- and oh man, my bar's totally wrecked by the way man!" Tamaki said hurriedly, barely pausing to draw breath as he related his story.

Behind them, Sayoko appeared from the hallway, and Jeremiah gave her an acknowledging nod.

"Were there any problems?" he asked, stepping towards her.

Sayoko shook her head. "Some, but we managed to escape without much notice after I dispatched the initial forces. They were more pressed with learning your location, I assume."

"So we're all gathered now," Suzaku said slowly, having been watching, distantly, as though he were just an observer, this joyous reunion of comrades and lovers- but he was Zero now, and he had to be objective. He glanced towards Jeremiah. "So where do we go from here?"

Jeremiah straightened. "I would suggest that the Prime Minister, his family, and possibly Minami-san and Tamaki-san hide here for now. The new Japanese government will be looking for you. As for you, Zero, you must meet up with C.C.-sama and Kallen, at Kaminejima."

"Kaminejima?" Zero blinked. "That's where we need to go?"

"That's where Lelouch-sama said you would need to go once C.C. was found," Jeremiah replied calmly, nodding.

"Why just Zero?" Tamaki cut in, glancing about between the two. "Why can't we go help him do… whatever it is he's doing?"

"The instructions were clear," Sayoko interrupted, shaking her head. "Zero-sama would have to go alone to meet them. And in any case, you all are now fugitives from the government- it'd be best if you stayed in hiding until we can resolve this crisis."

"No."

All eyes in the room swiveled about, coming to rest on Ougi, who stared straight back at them with clear, defiant eyes, holding his wife in his arms as he did so.

"Kaname…" Viletta murmured softly, looking up at him.

"I will not run and hide," Ougi said firmly, jaw set determinedly. "I am still the Prime Minister of Japan, and I will do my duty to my country and steer it away from destruction, no matter what it may cost me."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Jeremiah questioned, raising his eyebrow. "With all due respect, Prime Minister, there are only a handful of us here, and even if we had an army, what would you do with it?"

"We don't need an army," he replied. "The secessionist movement is a snake coiled around Japan- we just need to sever the head."

"You want to go after Hideyoshi?" Minami blinked, mouth falling open into a soft 'O'.

Ougi nodded. "If we can capture him, we can halt the secessionist movement."

"You're risking a lot," Minami warned, looking hesitant.

"It's the only course left. Like Jeremiah-san said, we have no army, and I have no influence left," he responded, shrugging almost helplessly, a contrast to the stubborn tone in his voice. "But I can't abandon Japan now… not when it needs me the most."

"I will aid you in this most noble, if reckless, endeavor, then, Prime Minister," Jeremiah said quietly, stepping forward, bowing respectfully. "If you will have me."

"I'm with you too," Minami agreed.

"Aw hell, then you can't leave me out of this!" Tamaki said, laughing. "Besides, we're the original Black Knights- the impossible is nothing for us!"

Ougi shared a brief, boyish grin with him, before his mind return to the coldness of reality as he glanced back down at his wife, who had said nothing this entire time.

"Viletta, I…" he began, uncertain, but she quieted him with a shush and placed her finger over his lips.

"Last time you did something like this, I was pregnant and I couldn't follow," she whispered, an undercurrent of fierce determination in her soft tone. "I am not letting you leave me behind again."

"But… the children…" Ougi started, but was cut off.

"I can watch them, in this safe house, until your return," Sayoko promised, stepping forward and bowing. "I promise you, no harm will come to them as long as they are under my protection."

"Then it's settled," Viletta said slowly, pulling away from Ougi, turning her face away as well to hide her expression. "I won't take no for answer."

Ougi opened his mouth to protest again, but Tamaki clapped him on the shoulder and shook his head, laughing raucously.

"No sense in arguin' with her man," his old friend said, chuckling. "I guess we're all set then."

"What, you all are having a suicide mission and you didn't invite me?"

For the second time in so many minutes, everyone in the room stilled, and their eyes turned towards a single individual, standing at the doorway.

Gino Weinberg grinned. "Glad to see me, boys?"

00000

_Several hours earlier… _

The second the gunshots went off, Gino couldn't think of a single good moment in his life to reflect on, strange as it might seem.

Just the idea that this really sucked.

Totally sucked, really. Killed by his own men- what a way to go.

But he kept his back straight and his eyes open- no one was going to say Gino Weinberg didn't die like a man.

Which was why he was able to see the corporal who had been ordering the firing squad suddenly disappear in a shower of red mist, screaming as his gun arm was blown away by the distinctive crack of a rifle.

The rest of the squad faltered in confusion, and Gino, sensing an opportunity had come, leapt forward, catching the nearest Black Knight in the jaw with a resounding uppercut, sending him crashing to the floor.

The other three members of the squad wheeled on him, confused, but he was in the middle of their formation now, and they were all far too close to start shooting at him- they'd be just as likely to kill their comrades, so they'd have to let go of their rifles first.

Gino, using only his fists, had no such disadvantage. He stepped into the guard of the man on his left and delivered a knife chop to the man's neck. As the man's grip on his rifle faltered, the former Knight of Three ripped the gun from the Black Knight's hands and punched him in the nose.

He now had a weapon, and the remaining two squad members still hadn't reoriented themselves to strike. He could open fire and finish this in seconds.

But he still had time, and Gino wanted to avoid killing anybody here if he could help it- killing indiscriminately would only escalate the problem, not solve it. Not to mention the fact that, for what it was worth, they were still his men.

So, using the butt of the rifle, Gino whipped it forward and caught the man between the eyes with a brutal crack, sending him toppling to the floor bonelessly.

The last member of the firing squad was finally regaining his bearings, but so did Gino, who leapt to the side with a twist of his body, and squeezed off a three round burst that caught the man in the knees, sending him screaming to the floor as his leg disappeared in a spray of crimson.

Gino didn't wait for the man to try and get one last shot off- leaping to his feet, the former Knight of Three ran over to the man he just shot and kicked him in the chin, sending the last member of what had once been his execution squad into unconsciousness.

He might not have wanted to kill them, but it didn't mean he would be going easy on the guys who just tried to shoot him.

In the background, he couldn't yet hear the sounds of panic amongst the base, meaning that no one had yet noticed that something had gone wrong.

But unless a miracle happened, there was no way he was getting out of here alive.

His cellphone chirped with the welcoming bell of a text message.

Slowly, as if dumbfounded by the fact that he both still had his cellphone and that someone was bothering to text him, he pulled out the phone and looked down at the screen. The message was short, the number blocked.

_Go left. Now. _

Behind him, the sounds of shouts and orders being barked became more and more audible.

_You always were quick on the uptake_, _Keima_, Gino thought wryly, and wished he hadn't picked such a capable lieutenant.

Deciding there was nothing else for it, Gino took off in a sprint, in the direction the text had indicated. Behind him, the shouts got louder, and he could hear a distinct "FIRE!" in the background.

On instinct, he ducked and sidestepped, and then leapt past a large, gray metal supply crate, using it as cover as he began running forward again, hoping the box would disrupt the soldier's aim, at least a little.

_Shit, shit, shit!_ Gino cursed, and ducked his head as the vicious crack of gunfire whizzed by his head, one nearly close enough that it cut his cheek. _I could really use something more than a text right about now! _

As if on cue, another distinctive boom echoed through the air, another rifle shot- but this one was coming from the direction he was running in, and he heard one of the Black Knights behind him scream in agony.

_Somebody up there still likes me,_ he thought, deliriously relieved. A part of him prayed that that wasn't a killing shot, but another part of him just wanted to get the hell out of there and didn't care enough to check.

"Sniper!" he heard Keima boom behind him. "Get behind cover!"

Another sharp, harsh chorus of shots came back in answer, to scatter the soldiers further. He didn't hear any screams this time, so it was likely Keima's order came just in time.

At the pace he was running, he was just a few more meters till the fence they had erected earlier around the base. But unfortunately, it was strong and barbed, and Gino was pretty damn sure his gun wouldn't cut through the fence.

_Unless, of course, there was already a hole in the fence, that is. _Gino blinked, stride faltering for a moment as he realized that someone had already cut a man-sized gap in the fence.

And waiting just beyond that fence, wielding a sniper rifle, was Anya Earlstreim, the former Knight of Six, clad, in a simple black shirt and jeans. She gave him an acknowledging nod, before putting her eye behind the sight again, firing another round off, laying down a nice hail of covering fire to keep them off his back.

Feeling a renewed sense of energy, the former Knight of Three pumped his legs harder, stride eating up the ground faster and faster, until the shouts of the men behind him grew more and more faint as blood pumped into his ears, his heartbeat overtaking all sounds. Finally, with one last burst, Gino was through the fence, and the two of them took off into the woods, Anya pulling the rifle's strap over her shoulder.

"You're an amazing woman, you know that?" Gino panted, as they ran, giving her the most grateful smile he could muster. "A goddess. I'm going to build a goddamn statue in your honor if we live through this."

Anya gave him a wry look, but her lips quirked in the barest hint of a genuine smile. "Good to see you too. Come on, it's not much farther."

He blinked, even as he was forced to duck a particularly low hanging branch. "What's not much farther?"

Anya opened her mouth to answer, but she was distracted as she leapt over an overgrown tree root, and afterwards didn't respond until they left the woods, reaching the high cliffs that the base had been situated next to.

"I hope you've got a plan that doesn't involve swimming," Gino joked grimly, glancing back into the tree line, hoping not to see any movement within.

"Look up," Anya replied simply.

He did.

"Yoo hoo!" Lloyd said cheerfully, waving from the open doorway of a small but sleek transport plane equipped with a Float System, as it slowly descended down towards them.

"Get inside, you idiot!" Rakshata snapped audibly, appearing next to him as she dragged him back inside.

"Come on up you two," Cecile said cheerily, poking her head out after the two clearly deranged scientists had vanished from sight. "I've got snacks- I hope you like wasabi sandwiches!"

"Hell of a cavalry," Gino muttered, grinning widely in relief. "Though I think I'll pass on the food."

00000

"Gino!" Suzaku said, relieved, his composure as Zero failing him for a moment.

"Heya Zero, glad to see you've been keeping everything quiet on the home front while I've been gone," Gino greeted, still smiling widely.

"Move," Anya cut in, brushing past him to step inside, shaking her head as she did so. "I'm thirsty." And without greeting anyone, she strode right towards the kitchen.

"Well, looks like the gang's all here!" came a sudden, chirping voice, and the lilting smile and lanky frame of Lloyd Asplund came into view from behind Gino.

"Lloyd?" Suzaku blinked in surprise, glancing about bewilderedly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm your ride, Zero!" Lloyd replied, chuckling, waving. "So, are we all set?"

Despite everything, Zero laughed. A slight bitter, small thing of a laugh, but nonetheless it was still a laugh.

Maybe all hope wasn't lost just yet.

Author's Notes

The title of this chapter is taken from _Ulysses,_ by Lord Alfred Tennyson. The full quote is "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield", due to the desperation in this chapter, as our heroes try to regain control of the situation.

The introduction to Sayoko's fight scene with the Knightmare was partially inspired by a scene in the book _Artemis Fowl_, which I highly recommend. (It's the troll versus Butler scene, for those who have read it)

I have no idea where the lesbian comment came from- I just suddenly thought it'd be funny if the cab driver thought they were in a lover's quarrel. Besides, this whole chapter's pretty depressing, except for that and Sayoko's fight, so I thought I'd cheer you guys up a bit. It's been like 10 years since I took Spanish, so forgive any kind of horrible errors I made with it.

Colonel Kusakabe, for those who might have forgotten, is the man who tried to take Euphemia hostage and got killed during the Black Knight's debut. I only remembered him now because I was using him for a different fic, but figured it was a good way to tie Hideyoshi back into canon.

Also, a big GOTCHA to everyone who thought Gino was dead. Suckers. I originally had that rescue scene located earlier in the story, but I thought it'd be more interesting to wait till the end to show that particular card.

As I finished this, I realize this might actually be the most lighthearted chapter of the story. Damn, I'm really going to have to make next chapter dark then…

See you next time folks!


	6. Part VI: At The Banks Of The Rubicon

Part VI: At The Banks Of The Rubicon

_"The wisest and best of our people despaired as deeply, found hope no easier, knew nothing, no way to end this unequal war of men and devils, warriors and monstrous fiends."_

- Unknown

Toudou Nagisa, despite her sterling military record and rather fierce personality, was also very dedicated to the traditional Japanese ideal of what a wife should be, just as her husband was to the ideal of how a married man should act. As such, without protest, without being asked, she sat in the full military uniform outside her husband's meditation room, awaiting his decision with the utmost patience.

But at last, he had emerged. Like her, her husband was dressed in his full officer's uniform, his traditional katana held in one firm gloved hand by the sheath. His face bore none of the confusion that it had hinted at earlier- his eyes were clear, and determined.

He had made his choice.

Wordlessly, without asking him about his decision, Nagisa fell in step behind him.

"Where are we headed?" she asked quietly.

Toudou Kyoshiro was a soldier of Japan, first and foremost. And if Japan needed him, he would return to his country, and do what was necessary, even if it meant turning his back on the ideals he had followed for so very long.

That was what it meant to be the creator of a miracle.

"Tokyo," he said stonily. "We head to Tokyo."

Where Hideyoshi and the new Japanese government awaited his arrival, so that he might lead the armies of Japan once more.

_This is the only way_, Toudou assured himself grimly, grip tightening over his katana.

Years later, this would be called the turning point of the entire conflict, when the balance of power irrevocably shifted in favor of one side, and changing the course of history forever.

00000

"Almost there," Lloyd practically sang, glancing back at him from the pilot's seat- the plane was small enough that he could glance back through the cockpit door leading into the passenger seating area with ease. "You comfy?"

Suzaku resisted the urge to give him a blank look- it wouldn't work through the mask.

"I don't think comfort is something I need to be considered with, Lloyd-san," he said slowly. "How close is 'almost there'?"

"Another two hours," Cecile informed him from the co-pilot's seat. "He was exaggerating, I'm afraid. And please, Lloyd-san, don't look away from your console."

There were four of them on the plane- Lloyd and Cecile piloted the plane while Nina sat next to him in another passenger's seat, the three of them acting as his rather unceremonious escort to Kaminejima. Rakshata had elected to stay behind in Tokyo and provide support from the safe house, where she would set up equipment to keep both Ougi's group and Zero's group in contact (in reality, she was sick of constantly putting up with Lloyd and took the first opportunity she could to ditch him).

After a few minutes of sitting silently, Suzaku finally asked the question that had been bothering him for some time now.

"Why didn't you tell me about Lelouch's plan?"

Lloyd and Cecile didn't look back, but they visibly shifted, glancing at one another, wondering where to start. Because of their reluctance, it was Nina who finally answered him.

"He asked us not to," she said quietly, glancing up at him with a hesitant look. "He said you would have enough problems to deal with as it was."

"We were all part of the same plan," Zero reminded them, voice laced with audible irritation. "Why did you three even agree to help him?"

"Lloyd-san said that Geass interested him, and so Cecile-san agreed to help manage him," Nina replied softly, and glanced down at her hands, which clenched over the cloth of her pants. "And I… I wanted to destroy the Geass."

Suzaku understood the sentiment- after all, they'd lost the same woman to that Geass. Nina must have hated such a twisted thing for corrupting her beloved idol.

"What's waiting there, on that island?" he asked, glancing out the window, where Kaminejima stood far off in the horizon, defiantly untouched, unchanged since all those years ago.

"We don't know," she admitted. "Lelouch never told us the entire plan, just what parts we would need to play."

"That's just like him," Suzaku muttered, suddenly, irrationally angry. "But I guess it's too late to complain about it."

He let the silence that waxed over his angry words muffle that irritation, fixing his gaze on the island ahead, which waited, looming ever closer, radiating a nameless, disquieting malice.

00000

Despite himself, Lieutenant Keima couldn't quite suppress that tiny sliver of relief that snuck into his heart after Gino had escaped. Even if it meant that sooner or later he'd have to face his former commander on the field of battle and kill him there, at least it would mean killing him in a manner befitting a soldier, not sneaking around and murdering him quietly like a coward.

However, he couldn't exactly show that here, with the digitized face of the leader of the new Japanese government staring him in the face through a communication screen.

"You are to be commended for taking swift action at the base, Lieutenant Keima," Hideyoshi complimented, a thin smile on his face. "While it is regrettable that Colonel Weinberg escaped, the whereabouts of one man is not our primary concern at the moment, what with more pressing matters to attend to."

"You speak of the Black Knight's 5th Airborne fleet heading in from the Eurasian continent towards my position," Keima said quietly, inclining his head. A troop movement that large and that sudden couldn't be hidden- and indeed, it was very likely that Brittania did not care to hide this show of force.

"Again, your swift, efficient manner is commendable. On behalf of our nation, I am honored to call you a soldier of Japan." Hideyoshi smiled a little wider. Keima was reminded of a wolf baring its fangs at its prey. "You are hereby ordered to repel these invaders of our great nation's airspace, and to order them to leave. If they do not, you are authorized to use whatever amount of force you deem fit to protect our nation's sovereignty."

In short, he was to shoot down the Black Knight's fleet- a direct act of war.

Keima swallowed, throat tight.

"Yes sir."

This was for Japan. This was for the sake of his nation, so that he would not have to turn his gun on his own people.

But was it worth it?

"Splendid," Hideyoshi clapped his hands, looking pleased. "Oh, and one more thing- I won't have the commander of our forces at Shiroda be a mere Lieutenant. Though naturally we will have to wait to present you formally with your rank insignia and the official paperwork, consider it an executive mandate and an official promotion for now, _Captain_ Keima."

"Thank you sir," the newly minted Captain replied quietly, saluting as sternly as he possible could. "I will do as you ask."

"I know you will," Hideyoshi said, almost smugly, and returned the salute. "Japan, Banzai."

"Japan, Banzai," Keima repeated, forcing enthusiasm into his voice.

As the leader of his nation signed off and the screen went blank, Keima tried to relish the promotion, and only found a bitter taste in his mouth that sang only one word.

_Traitor._

00000

"So, what's the plan?" Gino asked, rubbing his hands together eagerly, glancing around the small wooden table in the kitchen where they were holding their impromptu strategy meeting.

Those who had stayed behind at Jeremiah's safe house after Zero had left elected to take a few hours rest before making any decisions on how to act- it had been a trying day for all of them, and they were all exhausted. Ougi, Viletta, and their children were given the main bedroom, while Sayoko, Rakshata, and Anya were given the secondary bedroom, as was proper. The rest of the group, Tamaki, Gino, Minami, and Jeremiah slept on futons and the couch, trading shifts so that one person would be awake and make sure they weren't under attack.

Now that they were all awake, it was time to begin planning. Gino sat at the far end of the table, closest to the door. Jeremiah sat to his right, with Sayoko standing behind him (there weren't enough chairs and she declined to sit as a result), and Minami filled in the seat next to Jeremiah. At the head of the table, opposite Gino, sat Ougi, with Viletta sitting next to him, across from Minami, and rounding out the other end of the table was Tamaki. Like Sayoko, Anya, the last member of their conclave, elected not to sit, instead leaning against the wall in the living room, looking rather disinterested in the whole discussion. Rakshata was also in the safe house, but she was busy in the spare bedroom, tinkering with equipment (_"It doesn't matter to me what you're doing. My job is to support you, after all," she said idly, taking a casual puff of her pipe_).

"Wait, before we begin…" Ougi began slowly, and turned his head towards Sayoko and Jeremiah, fixing them with a stern look. "So far we've avoided the issue, as Zero seemed to trust you, but I think it's time you explained some things to us. You kept bringing up mentions of Lelouch- how is he involved in all this?"

"My master believed the world might be menaced by Geass, and left us tools and directions to combat it," Jeremiah answered succinctly, seemingly unaffected by the accusatory tone of the Prime Minister. He neglected to mention the Zero Requiem, but instead lied smoothly, "He had several contingencies left behind in the initial months of his reign, so that even if he were to be killed, we would have the means to fight Geass."

"Why would he care?" Tamaki challenged, looking irritated.

"Lelouch-sama hated Geass. I believe it took away the lives of several people he cared for- despite his use of the power, it did not mean he believed it should exist," Sayoko said quietly, bowing her head.

Jeremiah stepped in after she had finished. "I know it may be hard to reconcile what has passed between us, but right now, you can at least believe we are fighting for the same reasons, for the same goal."

Tamaki kept glancing at them suspiciously, but Ougi sighed and nodded. "You saved the lives of myself, my family, and my friends when you had no reason to. I suppose it's only right that I pay you back with some degree of trust, at least."

"Thank you," Jeremiah said sincerely. He was still lying to them, true, but it was in the name of preserving his Emperor's noble sacrifice- what they wouldn't know wouldn't hurt them. Thankfully, they hadn't questioned as to why Lelouch's contingency plans included Zero, his supposed murderer- they might have already guessed the truth, that this Zero was a product of his majesty's own designs, but avoiding having to confirm that suspicion would have to be enough.

"Alright, now with that settled… how exactly are we supposed to capture the head of the new government with only seven people?" Gino asked again, glancing around the table. "From the looks of things we don't have a whole lot of weapons or ammunition, so our options are kind of limited."

"Our best bet would be to take him as he's on the move," Minami offered.

Ougi shook his head, folding his hands and propping his elbows up on the table. "He won't leave the government building, not when his stronghold of power is there. Until he's confident, about the situation, he won't leave. And we can't wait that long- if we do, chances are any chance of undoing this situation will be lost."

"So what, we've got to go in and get him ourselves?" Tamaki blinked, looking incredulous. "You're kidding me."

"It sounds like it's our only option," Anya cut in, sounding bored as she continued staring out the window. "But if you're afraid, you don't have to come."

Tamaki bristled. "Oi, what did you say you little-"

"Tamaki!" Ougi said sharply, before his head bowed and he sighed. "Now's not the time."

"She's right though," Sayoko interjected, nodding, "If you can't get him to come out, you will have to get him yourselves."

"The government building is a fortress, however… getting inside alone will be a problem," Jeremiah murmured, furrowing his brow. "To access the higher levels especially, we will need security codes."

"Do you think they've had time to change the security codes?" Viletta questioned, glancing around the table.

Minami met her look and shook his head. "The only one who knows the master code to change all the security passwords is Ougi-san. Otherwise, it would take them weeks to replace the system."

"We do have an advantage," Sayoko said slowly, and all eyes turned towards her at the word 'advantage', "And that is that they will not expect you all to return so soon, and to take the offensive. That alone may prove to be enough initiative to win the day."

"Well, it sounds like we have a plan, doesn't it?" Gino glanced about, and across the table, Ougi nodded determinedly. He grinned. "Let's get started then."

00000

Lloyd and Cecile landed the plane on the outskirts of Kaminejima, close to those strange, eerie ruins where he had once confronted the original Zero, and then later the former Emperor of Brittania himself, where he had learned of the demented plan that Charles Zi Brittania had imagined for the world.

As he descended down the ramp of stairs and stepped onto the island, Zero glanced back at the plane and its occupants.

"Thank you for your help," he said quietly, and inclined his head just enough to show his appreciation even through the mask.

"We'll stay here, on standby, so just come back here when you've finished your business here," Cecile informed him, smiling pleasantly as she stood at the top of the ramp, at the left side of the door.

"Um… g-good luck, Suzaku," Nina whispered, using his real name for the first time. The three of them had always known how the Zero Requiem would play out- it was why they had agreed to work with Lelouch, Suzaku, and C.C. in the first place. But none of them had once said his true name.

It meant more than Suzaku thought it would, and he was grateful the mask hid his expression as he spoke. "Thank you."

Lloyd appeared behind them, carrying a thin, cloth wrapped bundle that caught Suzaku's eye. With a grin, he tossed the bundle towards Suzaku, who caught it deftly, and glanced back at Lloyd.

"Just in case," Lloyd said without prompt, and waved him off.

Suzaku opened the bundle, and, very briefly, everything around him halted.

It was just as he remembered it- the same violet color, the same overly ornate dressings, from the hilt that looked as though it were a pair of wings to the green colored tip that flashed when the light hit it just right.

It was the sword he used to kill Lelouch vi Brittania.

"Why did you…" Suzaku frowned and glanced back up, but the ramp had already receded and the door was closed.

He stood there for a few moments, holding the weapon he had used to murder his best friend years before.

Then, finally, reluctantly, he sheathed it into his belt, just as he had done on the day the Zero Requiem came to its tragic culmination, and started on his way. He already knew where he was headed- where else would this final confrontation with their mysterious enemy take place other than those ruins which led to the Sword of Akasha, after all?

The walk towards those ruins brought memories, most of which he did not look upon fondly. The first time he had come here, it was by accident, and he had become stranded here with Kallen and learned her true nature and identity, and had been cursed with a Geass order that would haunt him for the rest of his life. The second time, he had pursued Lelouch to this island in with a vengeful heart and turned a man he had once considered as close as a brother to his mortal enemy. And the last time he returned to this place, he found himself inexplicably allied with Lelouch, and starting down a path neither of them anticipated.

Each time, some tumultuous change had taken place.

What would it be this time?

"Ah, you're here," came C.C.'s familiar airy tones, and she practically materialized out of the woods, with Kallen following close behind. The redhead gave him an acknowledging nod, which he returned.

"We're heading to where that Sword of Akasha is, aren't we?" Zero asked.

C.C. nodded, the ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "I knew you would remember."

And with that the three of them turned towards the cave mouth ahead of them, a place that each of them knew all too well.

Kallen remembered seeing Lelouch's face break through the mask of Zero, and shuddered.

"By the way," C.C. said suddenly, and turned towards Kallen, who stepped back in surprise. "Remember, I left Lelouch in the plane. Be sure to pick him up when we're finished."

Kallen opened her mouth to retort 'Why don't you do it, he's your pet', but was interrupted by Suzaku's confused words.

"Wait, what?"

Kallen glanced over at him with a helpless shrug. "… it's her pet turtle. She named him Lelouch."

Suzaku paused, and laughed despite himself. After a moment, Kallen's lips twitched and she chuckled as well.

"When you two are finished," C.C. said slowly, glancing back at them as she advanced deeper inside the cavern. Remembering the situation they were in, both of them straightened and followed her duly, up the small flight of stairs onto the raised stone platform, and then finally to the imposing, archaic stone wall where the symbol of Geass was carved in more smoothly than any tool of the ancient world could have accomplished.

"Just what was this place?" Kallen found herself wondering out loud, eyes wide as she stared up at the symbol of Geass.

"They called it a Thought Elevator- a ruin of the ancient world, created by the users of the Geass that lived millennia ago," C.C. said tonelessly, without looking around. "The best way I can describe it is that it is a door to the World of C."

"What is that?" Kallen asked, blinking.

"It's better if you see it for yourself. Place your hands on my shoulders, both of you, and hold on tight," C.C. instructed. After they had done so, she closed her eyes, murmured something inaudible to both Suzaku and Kallen, and suddenly the world disappeared in blinding light.

And as the light continued to wash over her, Kallen heard an unfamiliar voice.

"So, you're here at last."

Blinking, her vision returning, Kallen glanced around to find the voice that had spoken to her.

Her surroundings, however, had been altered so suddenly and dramatically that her search was stymied. Where there had once been dark, encroaching cavern walls there was now nothing but the golden sky of an eternal twilight between night and day, highlighting the edges of clouds that filled the horizon with an effulgent brilliance. The three of them stood atop a stone platform that floated in this twilight sky, with a number of stone steps which also floated, unsupported, that led up to a large, dominating structure that reminded Kallen of pictures she had seen of ancient shrines dedicated to the old gods mankind had worshipped so long ago.

Suzaku, for his part, already knew these surroundings, and was less surprised by them than he was by the familiarity of the voice, and his eyes followed the stone steps all the way up to the top, where the speaker stood.

She stood at edges of the shrine, a wide, friendly smile on cherry red lips that was reflected in her eyes that held the same unique violet shade as her son's, on a face that held the angular beauty of a warrior goddess, as long, lustrous black hair cascaded down to her waist. She was clad in a simple, olive-brown one piece noblewoman's dress with a white collar and cufflinks, with a ribbon tied underneath the collar which bore a darker shade of brown.

Kallen didn't recognize her, but the other two members of her group did.

"How are you still alive?" Suzaku breathed, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Welcome!" she said in answer, spreading her arms out wide. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"Hello Marianne," C.C. greeted coolly, face unreadable as she stared up at the other woman.

"Ah, C.C., good to see you," Marianne Vi Brittania, former Empress of Brittania, said cheerfully, nodding at her one time friend and contractor. "You don't seem very surprised to see me."

She smiled wider, a tiger's grin. "I suppose I have my darling son to thank for that, hmm?"

00000

"Adjutant Guilford, we have almost breached Japanese airspace," his aide reported quietly.

Guilford nodded in acknowledgement from his specially designed seat, whose control panels acted on verbal commands to accommodate his disability, and could immediately report the conditions of the ship or the greater fleet on command. The true commander's chair was to his left (and therefore, his chair was to its right), its seat currently vacant- the true Commander was still nowhere to be found, and he refused to take that chair.

The airship that he was currently commanding, _The Vigilant_, was Princess Cornelia's own personal vessel and was currently acting as the flagship of the 5th Airborne Fleet. Its design was reminiscent of _The Avalon_, her brother Schneizel's old flagship which had long since been retired, but equipped with the more advanced technology available now, including faster propulsion systems, twin Hadron cannons located on either side of the front bow, and a Blaze Luminous system. It also bore twin emblems; at its front bow was emblazoned the universally recognized symbol of the Black Knights, and at the crest sat the flag of Neo Brittania, symbolizing its twin allegiances.

"Hail the Shiroda forward operations base. Inform them that our forces are under orders to confirm the status of Colonel Weinberg and any still loyal Black Knights. The base is still considered the territory of the Empire and as such any attempt to interfere with our operation will be regarded as infringing on the sovereignty of the Empire. If they resist, we have authorization from Commander Xing-ke to use force to retake the Empire's rightful claim," Guilford barked, gripping the sides of his command chair tightly.

The communication's officer did as ordered, repeating the orders verbatim- this was a delicate operation, at the possible opening stages of a war. If anyone deviated even slightly from protocol it would be seen as endangering the entire operation, and, perhaps more importantly, history would look back on this moment and judge them all without mercy as the instigators of the third war between Japan and the Empire of Brittania.

As they waited for a response, he ordered all ships to decelerate, to avoid totally entering Japan's airspace until the last possible moment.

"Sir, we've received a response from the Shiroda base," the communication's officer reported.

Finally, a response.

"Put him on screen," Guilford ordered swiftly. A part of him hesitated, however- would showing the enemy his blindness put him at a disadvantage? Yet at the same time, a part of him rankled at the thought of hiding his disability, as if it made him less of a commander, less of the man who had stood at the right hand of 'The Witch of Brittania'.

He had no time left for recriminations, however.

"This is the current commander of the Shiroda forward operations base, Captain Katsuragi Keima."

Guilford recognized the name, except that the man he was thinking of was Colonel Weinberg's Lieutenant.

"You've been promoted, then, former Lieutenant Keima," he stated flatly.

"Indeed I have. And you must be Gilbert Guilford, Adjutant to Commander Cornelia Li Brittania," the Captain replied slowly. "Your reputation precedes you."

He ignored the hollow compliment. "If you are the current commander, what has happened to your former CO, Colonel Weinberg?"

Keima's hesitation was audible, even without seeing his face. "Colonel Weinberg has been relieved of his command. This base is now under the control of the Japanese government, and we no longer report to Commander Xing-ke or the United Nations Council, but to the interim head of the Japanese state, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hideyoshi."

Guilford frowned. "You are aware, of course, that the Shiroda base is still nominally a Black Knight's controlled facility and thus a sovereign territory of Neo Brittania. Your declaration carries the undertones of seizing a foreign territory then, if you are now the military force of a separate, sovereign nation."

"This base lies within Japanese territory. It was loaned to the Empire when Japan became a member-state, and now that we have once again returned to being an independent nation, you have no claim to what we allowed you to borrow," came the steely reply.

"Our claims put us at an impasse, then," Guilford murmured, a tone of weariness in his voice.

"Indeed," Keima agreed reluctantly. "We will give you a few hours to confer with your leaders and withdraw from our airspace. If you do not leave within this time frame we have provided, or if you continue on your course towards this position, the sovereign nation of Japan will take this as a hostile action and respond accordingly."

And with that, the connection cut.

"Orders, sir?" his aide asked, after a few moments.

"Our orders in this matter are clear," Guilford stated, furrowing his brow. "Do not stray from the course. We will retake the base by any means necessary, including military force."

_All the old familiar places,_ Guilford thought wryly, remembering the passage of a book he had once read as a child. Once more, he found himself at the head of a force bent on attacking Japan yet again… maybe this world really would never change.

00000

"Wait, Marianne? As in, Lelouch's mom?" Kallen said incredulously, eyes wide. "But he said he already killed you!"

Marianne tilted her head to the side, gazing at her almost curiously, as if appraising her. "So, you must be Kallen," she said, clapping her hands happily, more like a mother meeting her son's girlfriend for the first time than the instigator of a war. "Hmm, it's a pity my son never saw you as more than a pawn. You'd have had such beautiful grandchildren for me!"

Kallen flinched as if struck by her words. Try as she might, she couldn't refuse that stinging phrase, 'more than a pawn'.

"Oh, and Suzaku-kun, you're here too," Marianne continued, turning her eyes towards Zero. "Still doing my son's bidding like a good little lapdog, are you? Poor Euphie must be so disappointed you forgot her and chose Lelouch over her."

Suzaku brushed off her words, angrily demanding, How did you survive? I saw you-"

"You saw me and my husband disappear, that's all," the Empress replied casually, shaking her head. "It's true though- what my son did nearly destroyed me, the way it did my husband. But at the last moment, I used Lelouch's own trick against him."

00000

Everything was undone! The Ragnarok Connection, their hope for a world blessed by the beauty of truth without the need for lies, unmade by their own son!

Charles couldn't accept it- even as his body began disappearing, consumed by the World of C that had turned against them, he lunged for Lelouch, screaming out his frustration, clasping one powerful hand around their rebellious son's scrawny neck.

She, however, sought a way to survive- if Lelouch was so disrespectful as to destroy the dream of his parents, then she would seek a way to destroy his dream as well.

Glancing up at the supernatural sky of the World of C, she spotted the representation of the collective unconsciousness of mankind- the 'gods', as she and Charles called it- manifested in the shape of the planet Jupiter.

There! An escape! If Lelouch's Geass could work upon them, why not hers?

With one last vengeful look at her son, Marianne vi Brittania cast her Geass upon the gods, and fled her own destruction.

00000

"By implanting my consciousness into the collective unconsciousness of all mankind, I survived. It was not a true existence, not at first- trying to place my conscious mind in with the will of all mankind was not easy, and I was nearly destroyed in the beginning. But over time, I began to grow in power, my sway over the gods increasing with each passing day- soon, I was ready to re-manifest."

Marianne smiled again, and glanced over at C.C.

"Is that what Lelouch thought might have happened?" she asked innocently.

C.C., expression still cloudy, nodded. "He thought one or both of you might have survived whatever he had done- exactly what he did to you was unclear, after all. But he could never be sure."

"He knew about this!" Kallen screeched, angrily whirling on C.C. "He knew that his mom was still alive?"

"He guessed," C.C. replied tonelessly. "And there was no evidence he was right until now-"

"Why didn't he tell us? He left that recording behind- he could easily have let us know what we were up against!" Suzaku interrupted furiously, also turning on the witch.

"What would you have done, if you had known? This information doesn't change anything," C.C. replied coolly, unfazed. "Stick to the matter at hand."

Marianne laughed, high above, and the entire World of C seemed to laugh alongside her.

"What C.C. is trying to avoid saying is that this was all just a game for Lelouch," she informed them simply, a girlish smile on her face, "After all, he would already be dead by the time I had regained enough strength to strike back against him. The only thing he cared about was spiting me, stopping me even from beyond the grave- what a brazen son I brought into this world!"

"You're lying! This… this isn't a game!" Kallen shot back, but the conviction in her voice was shaky, audibly fragile.

"I would think I knew the heart of my own son better than you, who fell for his every lie and yet claimed to love him," Marianne replied easily. The smile on her face never changed, but there was a cruel glint in her eyes, and Kallen shrank before her.

"So, the destruction of the Shiroda base, the deaths of all those people, the reason why the riots and tensions have been getting out of hand, and even why the Secessionist faction was able to take control so easily… it's all been you, hasn't it? Suzaku challenged, trying to ignore the anger in his heart that was still directed at Lelouch. "How did you do all of this?"

Marianne gave him a condescending look.

"You didn't hear me? I placed a Geass, my own will, onto the will of mankind. It took years to master, but the end result allowed me to affect the emotions of the general populace- nothing direct, mind you, but enough to encourage anger, mistrust, and hate." She sighed, looking almost nonchalant as she shook her head. "Humans are such simple creatures. As for more direct actions… I learned to manifest a body for those times- it wasn't truly alive, or even really human, but it allowed me to venture out of the World of C and act as necessary."

"So you did… all of this, killed all these people- killed _your daughter-_ and started a war, just to spite your son?" Kallen asked angrily, narrowing her eyes. "You're insane."

"On the contrary, young lady," Marianne responded tartly, "I'm perfectly rational. I know humanity is a merciless animal that will turn on itself at the slightest provocation, that this world is full of ugly lies that keep people from understanding each other. My son, on the other hand, thought he could correct basic human nature- that he could turn enough hate on himself so that humanity would learn to get over its differences and unite as one people, in peace, by lying to everyone."

She laughed again. It sounded like bells tinkling, delicate and musical, but the air of cruel mockery was unmistakable.

"Which one of us was really insane, I wonder?" she asked rhetorically.

00000

Since the time she could talk, Sumeragi Kaguya always knew she would have to play a part in the world of politics. She was good at it, too- by the age of fourteen she was a respected member of the Six Houses of Kyoto, despite being decades younger than her peers, and by the age of fifteen she was the head of state of a multinational government. She did not luck into these positions, no matter what some people thought- beneath her sunny, sometimes silly exterior was a shrewd and cunning mind.

Once, Kallen had asked her if she would have liked a 'normal' life. Kaguya believed that those 'normal' lives that other girls her age had lived were boring- why wait to take the world stage?

Today, however, Kaguya wanted nothing more than to act like the young woman she really was, to pretend she was just the average girl her age, to not have the burdens of running an Empire on her shoulders when all she wanted to do was grieve at the loss of a dear friend.

But there was no time for grieving, no time for tears.

It was like Nunnally said at the beginning of all of this.

_"When I'm sure this matter is closed, then I will cry, Kaguya-san."_

Nunnally couldn't cry anymore, so she would cry in her stead, once they had navigated through this crisis.

"Members of the Council," Kaguya breathed softly, exhaling, "As we speak the Black Knight's 5th Airborne Fleet, under the command of Adjutant Gilbert Guilford, is on its way to the Shiroda forward operations base. The secessionist troops that are currently in control of the facilities have stated that they have no intention of surrendering the base, and are prepared to use military force."

The assembled view screens that dominated the wall, filled with the faces of the members of the Council, seemed like an uncaring mob to Kaguya's eyes. Each of them only cared to further their own agendas- the only ally she could really count on was Tianzi, the Chinese Empress.

"This is under Commander Xing-ke's orders, is it not?" the Russian representative asked slowly, stroking his full mustache. "Are we to assume then, that military force is the only path available to us? Considering the Empress' statements on this issue…"

"The Empress is dead," interrupted the Ethiopian representative. "Likely at the hands of the Japanese. If we do not act, this Empire will fall apart."

"And if we do act, how is this Empire any different from the one under Charles Zi Brittania? Or even the Demon Emperor himself?" demanded another representative.

After that statement, there was nothing but chaos.

"Are we to just let the assassination of our head of state go unpunished then-"

"And what if we crush the secessionists in Japan? Won't that only spark fear amongst more member states and prompt them to consider withdrawal-"

"-it matters not, a show of force is the only message these people will understand-"

With a shaky breath, Kaguya stepped in, speaking over the debate, silencing them with her words.

"Members of the council, we will protect the sovereignty of this Empire- the secessionist forces have not gone through the correct political processes to achieve this so called 'independence'. They have removed the rightful, elected head of state from office, possibly killed several loyal members of this Empire, including our Empress, and are now seizing control of a territory belonging to our Empire. We cannot let this stand."

"What are you suggesting we do, Chairwoman Sumeragi?" De Gaulle, the French representative, questioned coolly, raising a silver eyebrow.

Kaguya swallowed. What she would have to say next would go against everything she had once believed in- but for the sake of peace, she would have no choice. If they did nothing, there would never be peace again, because this attempt at a world government would have failed, and be remembered forever as a reason why world governments would not work, and why no one should attempt it.

But even if they did this, and won- was a peace won through force of arms really peace?

_God, forgive me Nunnally. _

"I ask for this council to vote to declare a state of war against the current Japanese government, which is to be considered an unrecognized, illegal state," Kaguya said quietly, her words carrying all the force of a bomb.

00000

"Alright, we're in position," Gino reported quietly, around the corner from the government building, just across the street. Rakshata had provided them each with small communicators to place inside their collar- less conspicuous than any hand-held device, and she could monitor them even when they weren't talking to each other.

Behind him, Jeremiah watched his back, and Anya scanned the perimeter, careful to make sure they weren't spotted.

"You're sure you want to do this?" Ougi confirmed one last time, a hint of worry in his voice, audible even through the electronic filtering of the communicator.

The plan was relatively simple, as they were low on manpower and equipment to make anything complex. Ougi's group, consisting of Viletta, Tamaki, and Minami, would head in through one of the hidden escape routes embedded in the government building. These were sure to be watched, however, so that was where Gino's group came in- they would go straight through the front door, causing as much chaos as possible to keep the enemy from noticing Ougi's group, which would make its way up to Hideyoshi's office to capture him. If they captured him, they would be able to use him to force Japan to back down, using his life to insure that they all survived. If they didn't, they would all die.

This was the kind of mission he liked.

"With all due respect sir, we're used to going up against the odds," Gino quipped.

"Only do as much as you can- don't get yourselves killed, Colonel. That's an order," Ougi said sternly, but the concern in his voice was clear. "If it looks like things are going bad, pull out. Brittania will need you if we don't succeed here-"

"We will succeed here," Anya cut in suddenly over the communicator. Her placid expression was unchanged, but the slightest straightening of her shoulders spoke volumes about her determination.

"You heard her, sir" Gino said, grinning. "We should have some champagne to celebrate when we're done here."

"I'd like that," Ougi said quietly. "Good luck."

00000

The silence was deafening, and the supernatural scenery around them deepened that void, filling it with that unnatural malice that was undoubtedly being created by Marianne's complete dominance of this world.

Then, at last, Suzaku spoke again.

"I don't care who was right and who was wrong- this ends here," he growled, and his hand drifted to the hilt of his sword. "You've done enough damage already."

Marianne chuckled, covering her mouth with one pale hand. "You think you can stop me? Everything is already in motion- Japan and Brittania are going to war, regardless of whether or not I am here. Lelouch's tomorrow, this peaceful world he thought he could create will die today- just as he ended our dream, I will end his."

"I can still avenge Nunnally," Zero snapped back, and drew the sword. "And I can still kill you."

As of this point, that was all he could really focus on, the only real thing he knew.

The Empress narrowed her eyes. "Kill me? You misunderstand who's in control here, Suzaku-kun. I control the gods, and I control this world. With a thought I can make men hate each other half a world away, and you've stepped right into my seat of power."

"We'll see about that!" Suzaku roared, and bounded up the stairs to the shrine, leaping them three at a time, a blur of black and purple and gold movement.

Seeing him move brought Kallen back to the matter at hand, and she ran up the stairs as well, C.C. following close behind.

Marianne drew back, and extended a hand upwards, into the sky.

"Let me show you just how powerless you really are," she said slowly, a dark look upon her beautiful face.

Suzaku ignored her words, landing atop the shrine platform. His vision seemed tunneled, his only thought being to kill this woman that had murdered Nunnally. With a cry, he charged forward, sword raised for a killing slash-

Only to be blocked another sword, shining silver with gold trimmings on the hilt. His eyes turned towards this new opponent, and his heart skipped a beat as the world ground to a brutal halt.

This new opponent was swathed in a long royal blue cloak with gold trimmings and stitching that formed the symbols of Brittania's elite royal guard, servants of the Emperor himself that had not existed since the end of the war. Beneath that cloak was suit jacket of the purest, deepest white, folded over the chest by flaxen strings, with a petticoat trailing behind it (it couldn't be seen because of the cloak, but Suzaku knew it was there), and matching pants of that same brilliant ivory. Underneath the suit jacket was a black shirt with a high collar, with the same gold trimmings as the cloak he wore.

Suzaku knew this outfit like he knew his own hand.

After all, it used to be his.

"Like I told you before, I control this world. I can change its shape as I will- even something like this is not beyond my grasp," Marianne said condescendingly, her voice distant through his shock.

Zero stared at the man before him- a double, or perhaps a mirror image, of the man he once was- and could only gape as the Knight of Seven, Kururugi Suzaku, pulled away, straightening into a ready stance with his sword, emerald eyes alight with a deadly glint.

He drew back as well, circling his opponent, this false Knight of Seven, and the only thing he knew for certain was that this mirage would be the deadliest enemy he had ever fought.

"I believe you'll have your hands full with him," Marianne said lightly, smiling as she turned towards Kallen and C.C., who noticed her attention and drew back. "As for you two… it's been a while since I've fought with my own two hands."

She extended both her hands out, and in each hand a simple, unadorned long sword appeared. Nothing fancy, just straight steel, a leather bound grip, and a gold dusted guard. It was a weapon designed to cut and maim and kill, nothing more, nothing less.

Marianne's smile was as razor sharp as the weapons she now pointed at them.

"So please, play with me, won't you?"

00000

And in the skies above Kyushuu, the Black Knight's 5th Airborne Fleet readied itself to attack as the eyes of the Japanese soldiers at the Shiroda based watched carefully, both sides keeping close holds on their weapons, each side waiting for the other to take the first shot and renew the war between Japan and Brittania that seemed utterly inescapable.

Author's Notes

The chapter title refers to the phrase "Crossing the Rubicon", which is an idiom for crossing the point of no return, and specifically references when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River in direct violation of Roman law (which is what eventually lead to his becoming dictator of Rome). Obviously, everything about this chapter is about being on the edge of no return and war.

I can't shake the idea that if Toudou and Nagisa got married, they would invariably become the traditional older Japanese couple stereotype, so that's how I wrote them. I can't really see them any other way.

I had to do a bit of research to see if it was even plausible for a military commander to be blind and still be fit for command before I used Guilford in this context. Luckily, I found a few historical examples of blind generals, so I believe it's not too much of a stretch.

We never got true confirmation that Nina, Lloyd, and Cecile knew what was to come in the Zero Requiem, but I don't think it's too much of a stretch to imagine they did.

According to the R2 novel about her, Marianne utilizes two swords in combat, so I threw that in there- she's also apparently good enough to take Cornelia and two Knights of Round on with two swords, so it'll be one hell of a fight. I think I'm just going to refer to Zerozaku as Zero and Clonezaku (as I call him in my story notes) as the Knight of Seven, because otherwise this is going to get confusing fast.

See you all next time for the end of Revenant!

P.S. Props to Candelabra who was the first to figure out Marianne was the Geass user.


	7. Part VII: How Far We've Come

Part VII: How Far We've Come

"_all the men held tall with their chests in the air, _

_with courage in their blood and a fire in their stare  
it was a grey morning and they all wondered how they would fare  
till the old general told them to go home_

_He said, I have seen the others, and I have discovered,_

_That this fight is not worth fighting_

_And I have seen their mothers and I will no other_

_To follow me where I'm going"_

_-'The General" by Dispatch_

"Is everything prepared?"

"Almost. I'm sorry about the delays, but we couldn't risk-"

"I know." Soft hands clasped calloused fingers. "Thank you. For everything."

"Are you sure about this?"

"It's the only way. I'm grateful for what you've done, but if I don't do this… everything will be for naught."

"… he'd be proud. I just want you to know that much."

'I know. That's why I have to do this."

00000

It was the most surreal, unnerving experience he had ever been through. Watching powerful muscles swing the blade in the same arcs and patterns he had learned under Toudou's watchful eye as a child, seeing eyes exactly the same shade as his own from across their blades…

Zero twisted and whirled about, blade singing through the air in a high slash, and his opponent mirrored his movement, their blades clanging together as they met mid-swing, sending jarring shockwaves through his arm.

As their swords were knocked away from one another, he pushed into the momentum, spinning away and coming out with a low slash.

Without pause, the Knight of Seven (if he referred to his opponent by its – _his _- true name, Suzaku feared he might go mad) sidestepped the blow, and came forward with a brutal stab aimed directly for his face that he only narrowly parried.

Unfortunately, the movement cost him his guard, and the Knight of Seven delivered a brutal kick to his open chest, sending him crashing backwards, off the platform, crashing into the lower platform with a painful crunch.

Suzaku wheezed as the breath was driven from his body, wincing as he glanced up, just in time to see the determined, emotionless expression of the Knight of Seven as he plunged from the shrine platform, jumping down towards him in a stabbing motion.

Eyes widening, Suzaku rolled away, body protesting the movement with every rotation. The Knight of Seven struck only stone, sparks erupting around his untarnished blade as it connected with the ground.

Zero staggered to his feet, and the Knight of Seven charged forward again.

Suzaku wondered if this was some kind of cosmic practical joke, to have to face the person he hated most in the world- _himself_- in single combat. He'd dreamed of killing himself for years, but the hope of trying to atone and later Lelouch's Geass averted that destiny.

Now, it seemed, he would finally get his wish.

_Irony,_ Suzaku thought as he parried a vicious thrust from the Knight of Seven, causing his opponent to stumble_, is incredibly cruel_.

With his enemy's guard weakened, he came forward with his own stabbing motion, footsteps light over the stone platform.

Without pause, the Knight of Seven kicked off the ground, briefly stepping atop Zero's blade, before leaping off of that as well and bounding off behind his opponent, causing Zero to stumble forward, off balance from the unexpected maneuver, nearly toppling off the platform.

He cursed himself, even as he whirled about, barely turning in time to see the Knight of Seven's blade flash forward, whistling a deathsong as it slashed through air.

Twisting his arms, Zero blocked the blow, but the force of the attack pushed him back, and he strained to keep an even footing- unsurprisingly, his opponent was completely equal in strength to himself, and so every muscle in his body had to strain just to keep it a stalemate.

With nowhere left to retreat behind him, Zero leapt off to the right and the Knight of Seven mirrored his movement, only leaping to his left instead. As they both landed, they twisted and faced each other once again.

He paused, adjusting his grip over the sword, and his opponent did as well, glaring at him behind emerald eyes that were painful to see.

Briefly, he wondered whether this enemy was created purely by Marianne, or perhaps somehow it sprang from his own thoughts to torment him, for it seemed like an exercise in brutal madness, to face himself in this way.

The Knight of Seven shifted, and Suzaku recognized the stance as one he had learned as a child at Toudou's feet- a stance he had unconsciously started using at the same moment.

Madness.

With a cry, Kururugi Suzaku leapt forward yet again in a vain attempt to kill himself.

00000

Kallen prided herself on her physical abilities. She was no Suzaku, true; she could not outrun bullets or leap over Knightmares with a single bound, but she was probably one of the best fighters in the Black Knights, past or present. Even after the war, she had not let her abilities slack off, retaining her abilities as a first class fighter.

Marianne vi Brittania, however, had surpassed the idea of a first class fighter- she was a prodigy at killing, a genius of the battlefield, a terrible talent that appeared in every war as the unparalleled slayer of men.

Though she was born after the brutal succession war amongst the royal family that made Marianne famous and Charles zi Brittania emperor, even Kallen had heard tales of the Brittanian Empire's "Flash", a Knightmare Frame pilot without equal, and her exploits as a soldier were near myth. Even Toudou once mentioned off hand, without any kind of begrudging tone, that Kallen's skill with a Knightmare was reminiscent of "that woman's".

She was facing a legend.

"Move!" C.C. said quickly, and darted away, shaking Kallen from her reverie.

With a grunt, Kallen dodged to the left, and grabbed at the holster of her pistol- she might not know how to wield a sword, but a gun worked better in any case. She didn't have time to draw it, however, as the Empress of Brittania closed in on her like a razor whirlwind, noticing her attempt to draw a weapon.

Marianne did not walk across the shrine platform, swinging her blades, but rather d_anced _with them, letting them move about in terrible patterns that reflected the golden light of the unnatural sky behind them.

She was fast, and Kallen couldn't get her weapon out of its holster fast enough, and was forced to roll away before she ended up as mincemeat before those blades.

"Come on, come on!" Marianne urged, laughing as though they were merely playing a game, "I'd heard you were a fighter! Surely you can do better than run!"

Kallen ignored her taunts, ducking behind one of the pillars of the shrine, trying to put a barrier between herself and the insane Empress of Brittania.

"Come on, isn't dodging boring! Fight back!"

"She's out of her goddamn mind," Kallen muttered to herself, before she was forced to lunge to the side to avoid being impaled.

Marianne paused in her assault as Kallen retreated, a playful, girlish smile on her face that contrasted sharply with the gleaming swords in her hands. Their eyes met, and the smile widened.

"Hmm… maybe I was overestimating you, Kallen-chan," Marianne said slowly, tacking on the honorific with a mocking tone. "After all, you proved to be too worthless a pawn for my son, so you couldn't be that good."

"Stop saying that!" Kallen snapped, and drew her pistol, but her momentary loss of concentration cost her, as Marianne suddenly closed the distance between them, that lunatic smile of hers inches from Kallen's face as her swords closed in. Her first slash knocked the pistol away with a brutal sweep, jarring Kallen's hand, and her second slash closed in from the opposite side, ready to slice her in two.

Kallen barely had a second to twist away, cursing the loss of her gun, before Marianne's attack connected, but she couldn't get away fast enough and a small cut, just above her hip, was left in the wake of Marianne's swords.

"First blood to me then," Marianne said delightedly, saluting with one sword, even as she stabbed forward with the other, and this time Kallen had no time to dodge, nothing to block with-

When another blade- a slim, basket hilt rapier- came out of nowhere and deflected the blade, saving Kallen.

"There's two of us here," C.C. reminded the Empress coolly, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly, a second sword in her other hand. "And you're not the only one who can manipulate the World of C, remember."

Glancing over at Kallen, she tossed her the second sword, matching C.C.'s own, which the redhead caught after a moment of surprise.

"I don't know how to use this!" Kallen insisted, blinking as she pulled the sword into what was hopefully the right stance, imitating C.C.'s.

"You stick the pointy end in your enemy. And shift your hands, or you'll hurt yourself," C.C. quipped back, an ironic, thin smile on her pale face as she stared down the Empress of Brittania. "I hope you've got a talent for this, Kallen, because I've never once beaten this woman in a duel."

Marianne watched them with amusement dancing in her eyes as she clapped her hands delightedly, an ecstatic smile on her face.

"Now we're getting somewhere," she crowed, and charged them again.

00000

Kamijou Touma was, on the whole, a regular guy. He liked cold beer, baseball, and put in his hours at work like everyone else. It was just that his job was a Corporal in the Black Knights (and now the self proclaimed 'New Japanese Self Defense Force'), and that he now took his orders from that bigwig Hideyoshi instead of the Prime Minister. He didn't particularly like this change in management, but it was either go with the flow or get shot.

Which was why he was standing outside the government building, rifle in hand, keeping watch over the entrance, when he saw two figures slowly walking up the steps. As it was still night and the streetlights were off, he couldn't see them very clearly.

"How unlucky," he muttered irritably. The public wasn't supposed to know about this until Hideyoshi's speech- he'd have to get these people to leave.

"Hey there!" came the voice of one of the figures- a young man's, and probably a foreigner's, judging from the accented Japanese. "Mind if we use your bathroom?"

"Sorry, no visitors today," Touma replied, keeping his voice level.

"Aw, come on!" the young man pleaded, stepping closer. As the two figures drew nearer, Touma noticed the larger figure, probably the man, had his arm around the smaller. "My girlfriend here just needs the bathroom for a minute."

Touma frowned. "Like I said-"

He was cut off, courtesy of Gino's fist connecting solidly with his chin, sending him crashing backwards.

00000

"Well, that was easy," Gino muttered cheerfully, grabbing the man's rifle, sidearm, and ammunition clips with practiced ease.

Anya pushed his arm away, giving him a cold look.

"Why did I have to be the one to use the bathroom?" she asked clinically, snatching the pistol away from him and cocking it. She still had her long rage rifle from earlier, when she rescued Gino, but the weapon wasn't much use in close combat.

Gino shrugged, tapping the transmitter in his collar as he hefted the rifle in one hand. "Alright, we're going in. Jeremiah, you ready?"

Jeremiah turned the corner and stepped towards them, where he had been waiting, in case something had gone wrong. Unlike the two of them, he didn't have a gun- they didn't have enough weapons, and would have to make do with whatever they managed to take from the enemy. At the least though, Jeremiah's enhanced body and built in weapons gave him an edge over their enemies.

The three stepped up to the entrance, and Gino glanced to his left, at Anya, and to his right, at Jeremiah, and then grinned.

"Let's go to work then."

00000

The distant roar of an explosion came into hearing, vibrating the walls, and Ougi sighed. "It sounds like it's started."

They stood in the cramped corridor of one of the escape routes built into the government facility, one that would take them only a few floors below the Prime Minister's office, where they were betting Hideyoshi had taken refuge.

"They'll be fine," Viletta said softly, clasping his shoulder and squeezing it tightly. In her other hand, she hefted a compact submachine gun, a sight that pained Ougi- that his wife should have to take up arms yet again because of his weakness. "Jeremiah is a great soldier, and Anya-san and Gino-san are former Knights of Round. They can handle themselves."

Behind them, Minami shifted, holding a rifle of his own. "How much farther?"

Ougi glanced forward. They didn't dare use flashlights, in case someone had been posted in the escape route, instead of just at the entrance, but so far there had been no resistance. "Just up ahead. It's one of the few two-way escape routes in the building, and requires a DNA scan and a passcode. There's only a few people who have both the code and the DNA entered into the system to go through it."

"Do you think Hideyoshi knows about it?" Minami questioned.

"Probably," Ougi admitted, looking down.

"Which is why Jeremiah and the others chose to act as our diversion," Viletta finished. "We should hurry. Every second we waste is one more second they risk being caught or killed."

The three of them exchanged glances, acknowledging their commitment to this endeavor, and sped off down the corridor.

00000

A wide slash nicked his gloved hand, tearing into the flesh beneath and leaving a stinging cut in its wake. Suzaku cursed and winced, but, seeing an opening, he steadied himself, and lunged forward, trying to catch his opponent with a powerful thrust, straight at his heart.

The Knight of Seven sidestepped and lashed out with a kick, catching Suzaku in the ankle, disabling his balance and causing him to stumble, knee crashing to the floor with a pained cry.

Zero glanced up, just in time to see the Knight of Seven raising his sword, coming down with a powerful double handed slash. Suzaku scrambled to raise his own blade, but it was only a one handed guard and the resulting impact of the swords striking each other caused him to be knocked over, flat on his back.

Suzaku winced yet again, his already aching body protesting this further abuse. He was a great physical fighter, near the peak, but there was only so much he could take against an opponent who could move just as fast and hit just as hard as himself.

His opponent, however, had some kind of supernatural endurance, and pressed the assault, already coming at him again with that same implacable, expressionless face that mirrored his own image.

Even with his bruises causing tremors of pain to race through his body, Zero forced himself to move, to avoid the attacks, stumbling back to his feet exhaustedly, just in time to block another incoming slash from the Knight of Seven.

Suzaku stared at a mirror image of his own face, still totally expressionless and cold, and shuddered. His grip faltered as a result, and the Knight of Seven pushed the blade closer, inching towards his neck, forcing him to try and push back with his muscles that burned with fatigue poisons.

As the face of this false self loomed ever closer, his sword nearly breaking through Suzaku's guard, he felt a panicked desperation set in, a cold realization washing over his mind.

_I can't beat him._

He shut his eyes, and, in desperation, did the only move he had left, head butting the Knight of Seven with as much force as he could muster.

A distinct crunch could be heard as the mask of Zero connected solidly with the Knight of Seven's nose, and a bit of blood spattered across the faceplate, blinding Suzaku. Even without being able to see, however, he guessed his opponent's position and lashed out violently with a kick, which connected solidly with his opponent's torso, sending the Knight of Seven flying back across the platform.

Quickly, Suzaku wiped the blood off the mask, and glanced around for his opponent, who was already recovering.

As the Knight of Seven returned to his feet, nose bloodied and likely broken, expression still as blank as a marble statue's carved face, Suzaku paused, and realized his hands were shaking.

How long they had been at this, he couldn't say anymore. They had exchanged blows so many times, and he had held his own as best he could- there were a number of small cuts and bruises on the Knight of Seven that remained proof of that.

And yet, as Suzaku wearied, his opponent remained as strong as ever, ignoring every wound and injury as though they didn't exist. This doppelganger Knight of Seven simply did not feel pain or exhaustion.

He steeled himself, willing himself to stop shaking. Nunnally was dead, and the world was on the verge of collapse, he reminded himself.

There was too much riding on this to die yet. Even if it looked hopeless, he had to win.

And yet his hands still wouldn't stop shaking.

00000

Using a sword, Kallen discovered, wasn't nearly as easy as the movies and television suggested. After just a few barely managed blocks against Marianne's skillful attacks, her arms ached and muscles burned with the effort of just holding the weapon, let alone making her own attacks. She wasn't exhausted, per se, but it was far more draining than she thought it would be.

C.C., meanwhile, had been mostly covering for her lack of skill, intentionally diverting the mad Empress' attention onto her whenever possible to keep Kallen from being overwhelmed.

She had to admit, she'd never seen C.C. fight, not really. Most of the time she'd been too lazy or bored to fight alongside the Black Knights, only occasionally taking the controls of a Knightmare or wielding a gun when the situation actually needed her- and even then, Kallen got the impression she wasn't truly trying, because she wasn't putting her will into it.

Here, however, C.C. was actually giving it her all, her rapier a blur of silver that jabbed and parried Marianne's twin swords with remarkable speed.

"It's just like old times, huh C.C.?" Marianne said conversationally, smiling as she slashed with her left sword, forcing Kallen and C.C. to step to opposite sides.

"Not really," C.C. replied coolly, and slashed at her. Taking advantage of C.C.'s attack, Kallen pressed in as well with a wide, if clumsy slash.

Marianne parried both attacks and laughed- she was by far the superior swordswoman of the three of them, and barely seemed to be taking the whole fight seriously.

"I have to admit, you've changed!" she declared loudly, and came at them both with a quick half-step and wide slashes that forced both of them to block. "My son really made an impression on you, did he? What a heartbreaker."

C.C.'s eyes flashed, and she deflected the Empress' attack, coming forward again with a strong thrust. Kallen, meanwhile, had to retreat, not trusting her clumsy swordsmanship and tiring body to properly counter.

"Such force," Marianne commented airily, skillfully parrying the attack and causing C.C. to stumble. "What happened to the old C.C.? She was so much more interesting- she would never persist in something as futile as protecting a peace that would never last! What did Lelouch tell you that made you this way?"

"You always did talk too much," C.C. shot back cuttingly, and slashed high, while Kallen stabbed forward- her attack and her grip were weak, however, and it would cost her.

"A battle is a fine place for conversation," Marianne responded sweetly, a sharp contrast to her actions as she blocked C.C.'s attack with one sword and deflected Kallen's with the other. As the redhead stumbled, the Empress struck like a viper, and managed a shallow slash across Kallen's shoulder, causing the younger woman to cry out in pain.

Before Kallen could get her sword up again, Marianne delivered a surprisingly swift kick to her stomach, sending her crashing back into a stone pillar.

C.C. stepped in then, pressing her attack in order to cover for Kallen, driving the mad Empress back across the platform with a flurry of jabs.

Kallen staggered back to her feet, bracing her back against the pillar, wincing at the pain in her shoulder, trying to find an opening where she wouldn't get in C.C.'s way and actually contribute to the battle. She tried to ignore Marianne's taunts, but she couldn't help her own curiosity as her eyes kept darting back towards C.C.'s face.

The witch's expression remained coldly distant, but there was an edge to her movements, a drive that was apparent in her every twist and slash that made it clear she was determined to win this fight.

Marianne noticed it too.

"You really are taking this seriously, hmm?" She grinned. "I guess I'd better start taking you a little more seriously as well then."

And then suddenly, Marianne's movements sharpened. Her sword swings increased in speed, humming through air louder and louder, in tune with her ever widening smile, driving C.C. back across the platform near effortlessly, and the witch seemed to strain now with every hasty block and parry, unable to do anything except retreat and defend against the onslaught.

And then suddenly Marianne made a powerful swing, and C.C.'s sword was knocked out of her hands, sent clattering to the floor, leaving her wide open to the follow up attack-

When Kallen leapt forward and intercepted the attack, catching it with her own blade-

And Marianne smiled.

She had been waiting for Kallen to make a move, and her second blade was still free, while Kallen's tired arms and fatigued body were trying to occupy the first.

She was utterly open.

"Looks like its game over, Kallen-chan," Marianne said, in a sickly sweet tone, and came forward with a powerful thrust that would run her through.

Kallen shut her eyes. _Lelouch…_

"Oi, what kind of fighter closes her eyes in the middle of a fight?"

_What?_ Kallen's eyes opened, and her mouth dropped open in horror.

"We're even," C.C. coughed, a thin trail of blood leaking down her mouth, as Marianne's sword protruded brutally from her stomach, the shining silver of the blade now dulled with crimson.

"You really have changed, C.C.," Marianne commented again, her tone almost somber, a wistful note in her voice. "Taking the blow for this girl? Sure it won't kill you, but I know you've never been a masochist."

"Maybe I'm just getting sentimental in my old age," C.C. quipped back weakly, and closed her eyes.

"Maybe," Marianne echoed, and yanked the blade out brutally, letting C.C.'s still form collapse onto the stone platform, her blood staining the worn stones in the eternal twilight behind them.

Kallen stared down at her, eyes still wide with shock. C.C. would survive, she knew, but there was still no easy way to just dismiss a sight like this.

"Well now, I suppose it's just you and me," Marianne said lightly, calling Kallen's attention back to her. "You're not scared, are you?"

Kallen swallowed, mouth dry, still staring down at C.C.'s bleeding form.

C.C. had fought hard, for the sake of Lelouch's dream.

What had she done to save the tomorrow Lelouch died for?

She left him once, believing he had stopped caring for the world.

She would not do it again.

Kallen gritted her teeth, and glared back at Marianne, who blinked and smiled.

"So you do have what it takes!" she declared happily.

"Shut up!" Kallen snarled, and leapt forward, rage and conviction giving her body renewed strength.

Even if it was hopeless, she'd go down fighting.

It was the only thing she could do for him.

00000

"Think they're out of bullets yet?" Gino wondered, poking his head out, only to nearly get it taken off by a sudden hail of gunfire. "Nope, guess not."

After their initial attack, involving a thrown grenade to catch attention, they had taken shelter behind the receptionist desk in the high ceilinged entrance hall of the government building. The towering slate wall behind them that proudly displayed the Japanese and Brittanian flags was being relentlessly hammered by the ever growing number of guards.

"Stay behind the wall, idiot," Anya muttered, giving him a cold glare. An enemy soldier rounded the corner, rifle raised, but she was quicker on the draw and shot him, and then returned her gaze back towards Gino. "We're a distraction- the longer we stay alive the more time we can buy for the others."

"Yeah, yeah, I remember," Gino replied with an off-hand sort of tone, shouldering his rifle and firing a short burst towards the guards that had gathered at the top of the stone central stairway. The once elegant hall was rapidly becoming more and more dystrophic with each passing minute- the flowing fountain in front of the receptionist's desk was cluttered with rubble, the once pristine marble walls now battered and filled with innumerable holes.

The entrance hall had two separate levels, connected by a single massive stairway at the far end, opposite the doors. Next to the stairway stood two large elevator doors, which weren't the objective at the moment. The second level was a fenced walkway that ran around and overlooked the entire hall, and gave their opponents the advantage of the high ground.

"We should try to take to higher ground," Jeremiah interjected, glancing around. He had managed to commandeer a rifle off of one of the first group of guards, as well as several clips of ammunition. "I don't think we can hold this position for much longer."

"Agreed," Anya said, nodding.

"I've still got a few grenades," Gino offered, hefting one of the oblong objects in one hand. "We could use em as distractions- Orange-kun, you mind using that crazy body of yours to jump up to the second level and surprise those guys?"

Jeremiah examined the wall- it didn't look too much out of his abilities to be able to leap off of the wall and use it as leverage to land on the second floor balcony. "I will do my best."

"Then let's get started," Gino declared. He pulled the pin on the grenade, cocked it back, and hurled it around the corner as high as he could- it wasn't intended to kill, but to scare their enemies.

Even as Gino let fly with the grenade, Jeremiah was moving, bounding off the wall and landing on the upper balcony, amidst a group of soldiers who had been firing on their position.

"Hey, what the-" one soldier turned, but Jeremiah was on him in a flash, wrist blade extending in a silver blur, slashing his way through the crowd in smooth, fluid movements- the soldiers had no chance to react or defend themselves.

As the attention of the soldiers on the upper deck was diverted on Jeremiah, who continued pressing forward towards the stairs, making quick work of any guard who attempted to bar his way- at that kind of range, his enhanced body and wrist blade simply had too much of an advantage over the surprised soldiers who had to adjust their aim.

"Alright, let's move!" Gino declared loudly, after Jeremiah had diverted nearly all of the guard's attention.

Anya gave him a crisp nod, and the two former Knights of Round burst out from behind their cover, sprinting full speed towards the stairs, taking potshots at any soldier on the upper level opposite Jeremiah, who had the most chance of actually hitting him with a burst of fire. Gino took out three, Anya two, before they reached the stairway, clearing the area and easing Jeremiah's job of sweeping up the remaining soldiers.

One soldier turned and raised his rifle at them, but Anya was quicker on the draw and fired off a quick burst of fire that struck dead on in the chest. They hit the stairs at a dead run and pumped their legs as hard as they could until they reached the upper deck, where Jeremiah was finishing the last of the soldiers with a ferocious stab.

As the man slumped to the floor, Jeremiah wiped his blade clean, expression tired. Gino guessed that his own expression probably mirrored it- they had killed a lot of people, fellow soldiers who just happened to be fighting for the wrong side.

Guessing their mindset, Anya interrupted them with a quiet statement. "They chose this. All the soldiers here work for Hideyoshi remember."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Gino muttered.

"I hate to interrupt you two, but there's a problem," Jeremiah cut in, and motioned towards the small light above the elevator doors, which indicated that both elevators were descending rapidly towards their position, likely bringing fresh waves of soldiers to the fight.

"Here we go again," Gino said weakly.

00000

"It appears there are two groups of intruders, not one, as we were originally informed," Hideyoshi commented lightly, as the level below them was rocked by an unexpected explosion.

Hanekoma, his assistant, nodded in confirmation. "Surveillance shows Gino Weinberg, Anya Earlstreim, and Jeremiah Gottwald are in the Atrium, while former Minister Ougi, his wife, and Minami Yoshitaka are one level below us, having used some kind of alternate route to bypass several levels of security."

"What fools," the Chief Cabinet Secretary scoffed. "Do they really think they can accomplish anything?"

"Sir, I must remind you that our military force in this building is somewhat less than substantial, and most of it is tied up on the lower levels still after we dispatched the soldiers to repel Weinberg's group," Hanekoma said slowly. "We have, at most, ten guards on this level."

Hideyoshi flicked an annoyed glance at his assistant. "So what are you suggesting?"

"There is no shame in retreating," the other man said simply.

Hideyoshi opened his mouth to reply, when the door burst open and one of the clerks who worked at this building ran over to him hurriedly, looking out of breath as he held a single sheet of paper in his hand.

"What is it?" Hideyoshi asked brusquely, edging on rudeness.

"Sir, we've just received word that General Toudou's personal airship, the_ Kusanagi,_ has just entered Tokyo airspace, and has requested permission to land on the rooftop of the government building. He will be here within the hour."

"The _Kusanagi_? Are you serious?" Hideyoshi's eyes widened, and the annoyance he had felt before suddenly dissipated, replaced by elation as he snatched the memo from the hand of the clerk, studying it with greedy eyes as the gears in his mind began turning.

Toudou's personal airship was a powerful Dreadnaught-class warship, and carried its own Knightmare Frame hangar and room for a platoon of soldiers- the additional military force alone would make the matter of the intruders easy to deal with, not to mention the fact that Toudou himself would be aboard.

"Then he's come to offer his support at last, and has agreed to take command of our army," he asserted confidently, smiling as he stood up from his seat.

Hideyoshi allowed himself a malicious cackle. "With his help, repelling Ougi's pitiful band will be a simple matter. Delay them until he arrives- I myself will wait for him on the rooftop, to welcome him as a partner in our endeavor to forge a new Japan."

There was no one now who could oppose this change.

This time, Japan would fight Brittania, and they would emerge triumphant.

00000

Nagisa released the button that opened communications with the government building with a small sigh, and glanced over at her husband, who sat in the command chair, arms crossed and katana held in the crook of his arm with his eyes closed, looking utterly impassive.

"Are you sure about this?" she whispered gently.

Toudou refused to open his eyes. If he did, Nagisa knew he felt he would only be showing weakness and hesitation, which would be a fatal flaw.

Especially now, at this most critical moment.

"It is the only way," he answered simply.

Nagisa set her hand upon his arm, and squeezed it once, hoping to convey her desire to support him, regardless of what decisions he was about to make, and the consequences.

00000

Kallen let out a sharp cry as she was knocked down to the floor yet again, numb hand dropping her sword with a raucous clatter onto the stones.

"Come now, up, up!" Marianne said cheerily, twirling her swords absently. "I haven't had nearly enough fun yet!"

The redhead reached out with shaking hands towards her fallen weapon, gripping it with fingers that felt as brittle as glass. She tried to lift it, but failed.

"It looks like you're nearly at your limit though," the mad Empress observed somberly. "Just like Suzaku-kun."

Unbidden, Kallen chanced a glance behind her, to the platform below them, where the titanic battle between Suzaku and his strange doppelganger had been raging.

True to her word, Zero was failing- his swings were sluggish and reactions dull, a far cry from the young man whom Kallen had seen dodge bullets and jump clear over a Knightmare Frame with a single bound. His opponent, that dark version of Suzaku dressed as he once looked as the Knight of Seven, however, remained as relentless and absurdly athletic as ever, feeling neither pain nor exhaustion.

After badly missing a low slash, Suzaku was kicked in the chest by his mirror image and sent flying backwards again, crashing into a stone outcropping on the edge of the platform with a sickening crack.

He did not get up, and a chilling realization came to Kallen at that moment.

They were both going to die here.

"I can see it in your eyes… despair…" Marianne murmured, eyes glittering with relish, "Perfect. Even you two can now see that everything my son worked for was but a fleeting delusion, and has given way to the coldness of reality."

Kallen said nothing, and looked down.

"Before you two die then, I shall give you a reward," the Empress said, clapping her hands. "I shall show you the end of Lelouch's pitiful dreams, so that you can die with despair at knowing with certainty that you had failed."

And with a wave of her hand, the sky overhead warped and changed, clouds swirling like a drain, the sunset twilight becoming the outline of a night sky, filled with battleships of the Black Knights heading straight towards what Kallen recognized as the Shiroda forward base- the origin point of this entire crisis.

"Let us watch as the war renews itself, shall we?" Marianne said gleefully.

00000

From the bridge of _the Vigilant_, Guilford gripped the armrests of his command chair tightly.

"Sir, the Shiroda base has issued us their final warning. Any further action will result in an immediate military response," said his communication's officer.

"What word from Chairwoman Kaguya and the United Nations Council?" he asked slowly, mouth dry with trepidation.

"They've given us the green light to open fire, on your command."

Guilford swallowed, throat tight. This was it then.

"… begin the warm up cycle for the main Hadron Cannons, and tell the _Merryweather_, the _Executor_, and the _Pillar of Autumn_ to follow our lead with their cannons as well. We will not fire unless fired upon, is that understood?" Guilford barked, and was greeted with an attentive affirmation by his crew.

He leaned forward, and set his jaw tightly.

_Your move, Keima._

00000

"Captain, our sensors indicate that a number of ships in the enemy fleet have begun a warm up cycle of the Hadron Cannons."

Keima gritted his teeth. Why hadn't they listened and just left peacefully? Why couldn't they see that no one wanted this war, but if they kept pushing forward there was no choice left but to fight?

_Orders are orders,_ he supposed darkly.

"Ready all missile batteries and anti aircraft guns. Target _the Vigilant_ first- we'll cripple their command structure, and leave them leaderless," Keima declared, and the other soldiers did as they were ordered… just as he was doing, all of them ignoring that tiny part of their conscience that declared all of this as pure madness.

"On my signal… open fire."

00000

_ "_Beautiful, isn't it?" Marianne said cheerfully, as they watched both Japan and the Black Knights prepare to open fire on each other and begin a new world war.

"Stop it…" Kallen whispered, aching, battered hands clenching into fists. "Just please, stop it…"

"It's already been done, dear," the Empress said, shrugging as if it were none of her concern. "Don't feel so bad though! This is just human nature coming to the surface, that's all."

"It was you who started this madness!" Kallen refuted desperately, eyes stinging with tears of frustration and sorrow that she fought hard not to shed.

"I nudged humanity, just a little, that's all," Marianne replied simply. "If they really wanted peace, if they really were like Lelouch dreamed them to be, wouldn't they have resisted and shrugged off my influence? All it took was a little suspicion and a few deaths, and voila! The world is back as it was, ready to plunge into another war."

Her smile turned sharp and cold. "This world is cold and cruel and vicious. The mask of warmth and peace that Lelouch cast over it has been shed, and its true face has been shown."

Kallen bit down hard on her lip. She wanted to say that the Empress was wrong, that she was full of crap, that the world could change, that Lelouch hadn't died for nothing…

But could she really, with Brittania and Japan ready to destroy each other yet again?

"Lelouch has lost," Marianne crowed. "And everything he sacrificed, everything he surrendered, has been rendered utterly meaningless."

She shook her head with a bemused look. "Really, how could I have raised such a fool. To believe in humanity, to think they were greater than the beasts they really are, to think they could _change_ enough that he would give up his own life…"

Marianne smiled.

"And in the end, he was proven so very wrong. How very tragic."

00000

Two things happened simultaneously, and one immediately after.

At the Shiroda base, Keima issued a damning order.

"Fire at will-"

Aboard _the Vigilant,_ Guilford readied himself to take the hit and return fire.

"Activate the Hadron Cannon-"

And at the same instant, a voice cut in before they finished, a voice no one thought they'd ever hear again.

00000

"He wasn't wrong."

Both Kallen and Marianne gave a start, and their gazes swiveled until they rested upon Suzaku, who was standing yet again, unbroken, and unbowed.

"He wasn't wrong," Zero declared again. "You are."

00000

"It's impossible," Guilford breathed. He couldn't see the face that appeared on the viewscreen of his ship, but he knew that voice as well as he knew his own Princess's.

"You're alive?" Keima whispered, hardly daring to believe it.

"I will say it again," Empress Nunnally Lamperouge said softly. "Please, lay down your weapons, everyone."

00000

"You're still breathing, hmm?" Marianne said, ignoring the view of the Shiroda base that she had painted in the sky. "And still spouting that same garbage… what a loyal dog you are to my son."

"Better a dog than a ghost," Suzaku spat back, glaring up at her. "I believe in Lelouch's dream. And I will never let you destroy it."

Before he could say anything more, the Knight of Seven, which had been standing idly off to the side, charged him, blade upraised.

Kallen gave off a cry of alarm, but Suzaku already anticipated the movement- after all, it was exactly how he would attack. Instead of raising his own sword to block, Suzaku did the last thing he should have done, and therefore the last thing the Knight of Seven would react to.

He caught the Knight of Seven's broadsword in one gloved hand- it bit deep into his hand and immediately sent a searing wave of pain through his nerves as blood spilled out from the gash, but he caught it early enough in the swing that it hardly had any force to it. With his opponent left entirely defenseless, Suzaku lunged forward and rammed his own sword deep into the heart of the Knight of Seven, ending the battle.

"Like I said," Suzaku said quietly, but his voice carried enough strength to reach the ears of all, "I will never let you win."

00000

"Everyone, lay down your arms. Please." Her words were soft but full of steel, not an order, yet not begging either.

She was inside the Tokyo Peace Memorial that Suzaku had seen from the sky days before, the towering obelisk she had built in memory of all those who had been lost in the previous wars- and secretly, one she built as a testament to her brother's tremendous sacrifice, an unspoken, hidden tragedy that she had wanted desperately to pay silent tribute to.

They were inside a hidden room where Cornelia and Nunnally's personal guard had set up for them hours before, complete with communications equipment received from Lloyd and Rakshata, allowing Nunnally to broadcast to the entire world at the same moment.

Standing next to her, just off screen, Cornelia gave her a supportive smile. Nunnally silently thanked her again for the warning she had delivered hours earlier.

_ A voice called out to her, coming from the plane._

_ "Get back, Empress!" Lilliane scrambled backwards, pulling her wheelchair frantically as the other four bodyguards made a human barrier between her and the Imperial jet._

_ All four soldiers pointed their weapons at the plane, just as a figure stepped out of waiting jet._

_ Nunnally's eyes widened._

_ "You are-"_

_ Cornelia smiled. "Hello Nunnally." _

Though she had been surprised when her older sister showed up at the hangar, it proved most fortuitous. They had taken a different, identical ship, sending the original one out first on autopilot, remotely directing it using a device Cornelia received from Lloyd and Rakshata hours earlier, when she had first visited their lab.

They had explained the situation to Cornelia, including Lelouch's plans and his suspicion that Nunnally would be targeted if she attempted to come to Japan. Cornelia left in secret back to the homeland to intercept Nunnally.

After the explosion, Nunnally wanted to appear immediately, but Cornelia convinced her to wait, to draw out their enemies. But now, at last, Nunnally could keep her silence no longer.

She had to speak.

"I know… I know that we have all hurt each other," Nunnally said slowly. "And we've all shed tears for the ones we have lost. And we have lost so very, very much already."

She thought of her brother, in those final moments, peaceful, as though sleeping, as his blood seeped out to stain the pure white of his imperial robes, unmourned, his death cheered for by the entire world- all except her.

"But please, is anger and violence really how we want to honor our fallen dead? Is that really how far we've come, after all the pain and sadness we've gone through to get here? Is that really the legacy we want to leave for our children?"

She gripped the front of her dress as though her chest was in pain.

"I say no. I say that we are better than this… this anger and hate… this meaningless war over old grievances. We are not bound by the ghosts of the past. We are moving towards a future, a future brighter than anything we can imagine. And yet we insist on trying to return to the past, instead of moving forward. What will that accomplish?"

Nunnally shook her head.

"Nothing. It will accomplish nothing but bringing more tears. One man kills another. And then he is killed for killing him. And then that man is killed by another. Sooner or later, we will run out of soldiers to sacrifice for wars we never really wanted to fight. So please, everyone… lay down your weapons."

Cornelia watched her from the side, wondering at the young woman speaking before her.

This was no grand speech like Lelouch would have given, full of enchanting words and compelling visions.

This was a girl, pleading for sanity, in a world that had gone mad without realizing it.

Nunnally eyes glittered with unshed tears.

In those eyes, Cornelia knew, women would see the husbands and sons they had lost, her loss and pain reflecting and amplifying their own. In her voice, men would hear the wailing of mothers, the whispers of the lost loves they fought for, and her youth resembling the daughters they swore to protect.

It was not a speech.

It was a wish.

"So I ask you once again… lay down your arms. Let us find a different way… a better way." Nunnally clasped her hands tightly, and allowed a single tear to run down her cheek. "If not for ourselves, if not for the future… then for those who have already given their lives to give us this tiny hope for peace."

She bowed her head.

"Please."

00000

"Orders, sir?"

Keima heard the voice of the Corporal next to him only faintly, as though it had traveled from a distant star.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the words became stuck in his throat, choking him.

"Your orders, please, captain," the Corporal repeated, half begging, needing some kind of guidance. Keima realized absently that the rest of his soldiers had also turned towards him- in each of their eyes, he saw the same hesitation that stormed inside of his own heart. They were wavering, and had fallen back on their military training, that desire for guidance from a superior officer.

And right now, that was him.

"… stand down."

Not a man moved, the soldiers frozen before his eyes.

"I said stand down. All units are to disarm and stand down," Keima repeated tiredly, shutting his eyes as he removed his glasses, wiping them against his shirt. "Call _the Vigilant_, tell them I am surrendering the Shiroda base to the custody of the Black Knights and hereby resign my command as commander. I am voluntarily going into custody as well, to insure that my men are treated fairly as prisoners of war. "

And without waiting for a reply, he walked away.

00000

"That bitch!" Hideyoshi raged, sweeping his desk clear of all its contents, sending them to the floor with a loud clatter.

The soldiers next to him shifted uneasily, glancing at each other. They too had heard the Empress' heartfelt wish, but dared not express any of their sentiments in front of Hideyoshi. He was still their leader… or so they wanted to believe.

"You told me she was dead!" he said accusingly, shooting a venomous glare at his assistant Hanekoma, who flinched.

"She must have been warned ahead of time. I promise, I had no knowledge of her continued survival," Hanekoma said slowly. "At any rate sir, what is our plan from here?"

"Our plan?" Hideyoshi asked, momentarily incredulous, before he shut his eyes and nodded. "Toudou is landing within a few minutes. I'll simply have him help me regain control of the situation. Yeah… that will work."

His voice gained strength as he continued, and a faint smirk even returned to his face. "I will still have control over most of the military, with Toudou's help. And all that little bitch managed to do was stall the inevitable. People might show a little sympathy today, but Japan still remains independent. We still have control."

Hideyoshi stood. "Come, Hanekoma. We have a lot to do."

One minor setback was hardly the end.

00000

"Damn it, we're too late!" Ougi swore uncharacteristically, moments are they had come bursting into the Prime Minister's office where Hideyoshi had briefly taken to.

Viletta, who had been picking through some of the papers, came across the memo Hideyoshi had received earlier, and gave a start.

"Kaname," she called out, waving him and Minami over, "He's on the roof. Toudou is coming and he must be planning to meet up with him to escape."

Minami and Ougi briefly shared a glance. They had been comrades with Toudou for several years- tonight, would they have to end that long camaraderie tonight with bloodshed?

"Let's hurry. God only knows how long Jeremiah and the others can hold off the soldiers," Viletta reminded them, starting towards the door. The two men followed close behind, both of them still contemplating the idea that they would have to shoot Toudou to bring this matter to a close.

00000

The _Kusanagi_ was a magnificent ship, even beyond its symbolic meaning to Hideyoshi as a means of escape and the promise that he still had control over this situation. It had settled above the government building, holding a stationary position high above as Toudou's personal shuttle descended from its belly to land atop the rooftop.

"Hideyoshi!" came the angry voice of his former superior, Ougi Kaname, as he burst through the rooftop door-

And ran straight into a wall of stony faced soldiers, complete with their rifles pointed straight at him and his companions.

"Come now, Ougi, did you honestly think I didn't anticipate you following me up here?" Hideyoshi scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Now, just wait a moment. I think I'll let the General decide your fate- he might be merciful and suggest we simply imprison you and your friends for life instead of an immediate execution. Perhaps even exile."

Ougi gritted his teeth helplessly as his weapons were stripped from him and he was held in the iron grips of two soldiers, as was his wife and Minami. They were forced to their knees, helpless.

"A brave attempt, I must admit," Hideyoshi continued lightly. "And the Empress' apparent resurrection was a powerful move, but ultimately irrelevant in the overall scheme of things. Japan remains under my control, and with Toudou at my side the army will continue to move as I will it to."

The shuttle landed, and Hideyoshi strode towards it with a confident smirk as Toudou exited the doors, dressed in his old military outfit, katana held loosely in one gloved hand. Behind him fanned out several soldiers- Nagisa, Ougi noted, was not among them.

"General!" Hideyoshi greeted cordially, extending his hand, which Toudou took with an impassive look. "I'm glad you've come. You're just in time to help me deal with this little insurrection."

"That is why I came," Toudou rumbled, tone devoid of emotion as he stared directly at the former Prime Minister.

Ougi met his stony gaze, still in disbelief- he had known there was a chance Toudou would turn against them, but to have it happen in front of his very own eyes was quite another thing entirely.

"So, shall we get started immediately?" Hideyoshi asked, with barely restrained glee as he turned back towards Ougi, a triumphant look in his eyes.

"We shall," Toudou agreed. He drew his katana with a slow flourish, taking a careful step forward, eyes never leaving Ougi's gaze.

With a single swift motion, he turned, and severed Hideyoshi's head with a single sweep of his katana, cutting through neck and bone with a single powerful stroke.

Before the body had time to fall, he barked, "Now!"

The soldiers who had exited the shuttle with Toudou immediately surrounded Hideyoshi's surprised guards, who dropped their weapons without protest.

Before Ougi could even process what had just happened, Toudou stepped towards him with swift, powerful strides, and then bowed.

"My apologies for the wait, Prime Minister," Toudou said crisply. "I should have been here sooner."

And at last, Ougi found his voice again.

Shakily, he said, tone uncertain, "Toudou… did you just make a joke?"

00000

"NO!" Marianne raged, fists clenched tight with impotent rage as she watched the soldiers at Shiroda surrender peacefully to the Black Knights. "NO! NO! NO! THIS IS NOT HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE!"

Suzaku and Kallen both stared as the once composed Empress descended into a fit of rage, stamping her feet and roaring fury at the images passing before their eyes. Suzaku had made his way up to the top platform, next to Kallen, hand still bleeding profusely, but he ignored it for the moment.

"You've lost, Marianne," came a cool voice, and Suzaku and Kallen turned to see C.C. stagger to her feet. Her restraining suit was still stained with blood where she had been stabbed earlier by the mad Empress, and she looked deathly pale, but her voice carried strength. "It's over."

"IT IS NOT OVER!" Marianne screeched, whirling on her.

Even Suzaku and Kallen took a brief step back at the insane glint in her eyes, that mad fury that only the powerful can have when faced with their own failures.

"I still have control over the gods! I still hold power over the World of C! Watch this!" she declared as she extended her hands to the sky, as she had done before when she summoned the doppelganger Knight of Seven and her twin swords-

But nothing happened.

"W-what's happening?" Marianne whispered, face ashen and slack with shock as her hand dropped limply to her sides.

"You've lost," C.C. repeated. "You have no more power over mankind- they have thrown off your Geass."

"Impossible!" the Empress snarled, pretty lips drawn back into a vicious look that seemed more akin to a wild beast's than a woman's. "You and I both know there is no way to overcome a Geass once it is cast, not without another kind of power."

"There was another kind of power," C.C. answered simply. "A wish, just like Lelouch made when he defeated you and Charles the first time. Only this time, this wish wasn't made by one man influencing all of the world, but by all humanity- just for instant, but it was enough to break your hold."

Unexpectedly, Marianne laughed mockingly, high and lilting, like breaking glass. "You really believe that? You think that mankind's will, that a simple wish can break the power of Geass?"

"It just did," Suzaku cut in coldly, stepping in line behind C.C. with a defiant stance. "Humanity just proved it was better than you believed."

"You were wrong," Kallen agreed, stepping forward as well. "Lelouch's dream is more than that. It's real, and it's stronger than you."

"Shut up!" Marianne shrieked, trying to lunge at them, but C.C. stepped forward, into her stance, and slapped her full across the face.

As the Empress reeled from the blow, the witch spoke.

"We don't belong in this world, Marianne," C.C. said coldly. "You and I, we're just ghosts of the past, revenants of a darker age. We don't have a right to exist. The future is for the living."

Marianne opened her mouth to deliver a scathing reply, when she realized with a start that her body had begun disappearing. "W-what is this!"

Suzaku and Kallen took a momentary step back in surprise as well, though Suzaku quickly realized where had had seen this before and regained his composure quickly.

"Lelouch's will remains with the gods, Marianne," C.C. reminded her flatly. "You did not disappear then… but you will now."

Marianne glanced down at her disappearing form, and, after a few moments of obviously struggling with herself, the rage faded, replaced by a melancholic resignation. "So, this is the end, hmm?"

"Goodbye, Marianne," C.C. whispered, and looked away.

"Such courtesy." The Empress clicked her tongue in bemusement.

"Once upon a time, we were friends," C.C. said simply.

"So we were," Marianne agreed. She cast the witch an edged smile. "I'll see you on the other side then, C.C. At the end of all things. But remember this- I may have lost, but there will be others to challenge this dream. Do not think because you passed one trial that you will pass the next."

"We will," Suzaku assured her coldly, determinedly. "I will never let those like you win. As long as people like you exist, people like us will be right there too. I will always be here, between you and the world."

Marianne gave him a wry look and an unfriendly smile.

"I wonder… how long can you hold the mantle of justice before it breaks you?" she asked rhetorically. Even as her body faded, swallowed up by the World of C, still she smiled at him, until that too faded into the sunset sky."I look forward to finding out…"

And with that, Marianne vi Brittania, the last of the Geass users, vanished.

Author's Notes

This took longer than I thought to write. Blame Umineko. Stupid game. I heartily recommend everyone play it though. I posted this chapter specifically today (with 30 minutes or so left!) because it was the one year anniversary since Turn 25 was first shown, and I thought it extremely fitting. Forgive any spelling errors as I posted it rather hastily- I'll go back and fix them later.

The title of this chapter is from the song by the same name of Matchbox Twenty, which pretty much summarizes the entire point of this chapter. The quote is from a song by Dispatch that accurately captures the sentiments of the chapter, I think.

I am never writing a fight scene between a man and his alter-ego clone. Ever again. Way too confusing, and it took a lot of time to choreograph in my head. (Though that might be because I kept playing Final Fantasy Dissidia as "inspiration"… in my defense, Cloud has the same seiyuu as Suzaku. So technically, it counts. Sort of.) Also, I started utilizing what I remember from the famous fight with Dark Link in _The Ocarina of Time_ (and if you have not played this game, I weep for your childhood), so that probably started showing in the fight.

Kamijou Touma was lifted from _To Aru Majutsu no Index_, my favorite anime of the last year, which I highly recommend to… well, anyone who likes magic and science. Or anime. And there was a reference to the original Halo in here, if anyone caught it.

And a big GOT YOU to everyone who thought Nunnally was dead. I have no qualms about killing off characters, but with this story I wanted all named characters alive. Otherwise it just wouldn't work thematically for me.

Well guys, I'll see you in the epilogue- and trust me, if you think I've shown you every card in my hand, you'd be wrong. So stay tuned.


	8. Epilogue: Rest In Peace

Epilogue

Rest In Peace

"_I can't control my destiny. I trust my soul, my only goal is just to be. There's only now, there's only here. Give in to love or give in to fear. No other path, no other way. No day but today."_

-Anonymous

"So that's it then," Kallen said softly, glancing back and forth between Suzaku and C.C. "We've won?"

"I suppose so," Suzaku agreed, feeling suddenly drained as the rush of adrenaline faded, and the red light around his eyes from Lelouch's Geass order, which had thus far been pushing his body to move, canceled out as well without a threat to his life.

As a result, his knees buckled as the wounds and bruises he had accumulated in the fight against his doppelganger finally came to the fore. He nearly hit the floor, but Kallen gave off a soft cry and caught him before he did, supporting him with her uninjured shoulder with a concerned look.

"Sorry about that," he apologized tiredly, a grateful tone in his voice. "I guess I didn't realize how tired I was."

"You and me both," Kallen joked lightly. Her shoulders ached from supporting Suzaku's not insubstantial weight, but of the two she was likely still in better health than him. "How the heck do we get out of here?"

"Your way out is over there," C.C. called out, gesturing with her hand.

They followed her gaze towards the original platform they had found themselves standing on at the beginning of this battle. As they stared, the air rippled visibly, almost like a heat shimmer, and a wooden door, like one would find in an old fashioned mansion, came slowly into existence in front of them.

C.C. paused, and then shook her head. "Nah. Too cliché."

The wooden door blinked out of existence, and was replaced by…

"A glass elevator?" Kallen blinked, turning back towards the witch. "Why that?"

"You should read more," C.C. suggested in lieu of an answer, and gestured for them to go towards it. "Get in, and it'll take you right back outside."

"And you?" Suzaku did not miss what she hadn't said, about herself. "You sound like you're not coming with us."

"I'm not," C.C. agreed lightly, but cast her eyes away, refusing to meet his accusing gaze.

"What the hell?" Kallen blinked, and would have jerked towards the other woman, had she not been supporting Suzaku precariously on her shoulder. "Why not?"

"First and foremost, is that the work here is not done, but your part in it is over," C.C. replied easily, her face a blank mask that hid any emotion. "The rest is left to me. Marianne's will may be broken, but it's hardly gone, and making sure she can't reform and return isn't something I can leave to you, now can I? Lelouch took a gamble on her having been destroyed years ago- this time, we're making sure. And beyond that, it'll take time to repair what she did to the World of C, warping it to her own needs and twisted mentality, and fixing it is something only I can accomplish."

"It's not like you to be so altruistic," Suzaku said slowly, a guarded expression on his face. "Why are you staying behind?"

C.C.'s lips quirked.

"This is my part of the plan. Lelouch needed you and Kallen to defeat Marianne, and me to do the cleanup." A brief expression of melancholy flashed across her face. "But if you want the truth? What I told Marianne before was the truth- she and I are just the revenants of a darker time. The Geass and all its' powers do not belong in this world… a world that will be decided upon by you."

_She looks… tired_, Kallen realized with a start. C.C. was an immortal, after all. Living for so long, burying all the people she cared about and leaving them behind…

"You want to rest," she whispered.

C.C. smiled- it was small, but genuine.

"This is where I belong. Amongst the dead. You belong out there, in the world he's given you," she said softly. After a moment, the smile went away, and she spoke in a louder, more commanding voice. "When you leave, there will be no way to return, and no way for anything to leave the World of C. The threat of Geass should be done. Nothing will ever escape this realm again. From here Geass originated, and here is where it will stay until the breaking of the world."

Her promise rang out throughout the sunset sky, and everything seemed a little dimmer.

"Thank you. For this, and for a lot of things," Suzaku said quietly, head bowed slightly as he separated himself from Kallen unsteadily. He held his hand out for her, in a gesture of respect.

She took it with a smirk. "A witch being thanked… it's been a while." Her eyes softened. "Thank you for that."

C.C. glanced over at Kallen, who's face betrayed an array of emotions, and chuckled. "Now, now, are you going to cry?" she asked teasingly.

"Shut up," Kallen muttered, and pulled the witch into a hug, missing the surprised expression on C.C.'s face at the contact, before it settled into a kind of annoyed fondness.

"Take care of Lelouch, would you?" C.C. murmured into her ear with a chuckle. "He's your responsibility."

"What, you're forcing your turtle onto me?" Kallen said indignantly, pulling back with an outraged look. "Even when you're making a sacrifice like this, you're still shameless!"

"Fine then, don't respect my last wishes," C.C. sniffed, playing at being hurt, and turned away, showing them her back as she clasped her hands behind her. "Now off with you two. You've got a lot of work ahead of you."

Suzaku chuckled slightly at their antics, and Kallen shot him an annoyed glare as a result. They waited for a few more moments, and then finally, reluctantly turned away.

"Good luck."

The words were so soft that they could have been imagined, and C.C. hadn't even turned around to say them.

Nevertheless, it brought a smile to both their faces.

Suzaku and Kallen shared once last look back at the witch, and then stepped into the elevator, disappearing in a flash of blinding light.

00000

The flight back to Tokyo seemed to be little more than a blur, apart from Suzaku's rather embarrassing encounter with Lelouch the turtle, who bit his finger. Kallen left C.C.'s plane where it was- a part of her still hoped maybe the witch would one day be free from her duty to restore the World of C. After fetching the turtle, Suzaku and Kallen climbed aboard Lloyd's ship, which had been waiting on the outskirts of the island.

There was little speaking on the return flight, as Suzaku and Kallen were utterly exhausted from their battle, content to sit next to each other in the mildly comfortable chairs and contemplate the events in a companionable silence.

Nina and Cecile seemed to understand this intuitively, asking them nothing about what happened in the cave, and even a quick elbow from Cecile got Lloyd to shut up about it quickly enough.

Kallen felt her wounds ache- as soon as they returned to the ship, Cecile had immediately worked to bandage and clean their wounds. Hers weren't too bad, at least not compared to Suzaku, who Cecile noted would need at least a few weeks convalescence to heal the internal bruising and cracked ribs from his battle with his dark doppelganger. She would have to keep the pressure off her shoulder for a while, but overall she got off light.

Despite her injuries, though, she'd never felt quite so right in a long while. She thought about Lelouch, and even the pain of that seemed lesser now. Maybe someday, it would only be a small pang of 'what if' than anything else, now that she knew the full extent of what he had done for her, and for everyone else.

He gave his life for the world, for the future- Kallen would have to do him the honor of living in that world.

Kallen looked over at Suzaku, still bearing the full regalia of Zero, who noticed her gaze and seemed to glance back questioningly. "What is it?" he asked.

"You look right in that," Kallen replied. "I never noticed how well it fit you."

To that, Suzaku had nothing to say, but only seemed to straighten, adjusting the weight of the mask accordingly.

It did fit now.

"Wow… look at that," Nina breathed audibly, and caused her to turn.

Kallen stared out the window, and smiled.

The dawn never looked so good before.

00000

The Empress and a delegation were waiting for them at the airstrip when they arrived, and both Suzaku and Kallen felt immeasurably relieved when they saw the others safe and sound as they stepped off the plane.

"Empress," Suzaku greeted warmly, making quick strides to stand in front of her. "I… I can't tell you how good it is to see you alive."

"I'm sorry for worrying you," Nunnally replied gently, and clasped his hands in her own. She leaned in close, and added softly, "Suzaku-san."

Suzaku blinked, and almost jerked back, but regained control at the last moment. "How did you-"

"You'll tell me everything later, won't you?" Nunnally said over his whispered question, in a louder tone, making it seem as if she were asking him for a report on his doings over the past few days.

Suzaku felt a bit apprehensive, but to his surprise, an even larger part of him felt relieved. Maybe he'd missed being Kururugi Suzaku more than he thought.

"Ougi-san, Weinberg-san, Toudou-san, Jeremiah-san," he greeted in turn, inclining his head towards them, and they each gave him a warm smile and a salutation in greeting. "I'm glad to see all of you are alive."

"You look like hell," Gino observed dryly, grinning irreverently as he glanced behind Zero, where Kallen was descending slowly from the plane as well.

"Kallen-san," Nunnally said delightedly in greeting, and the redhead smiled back.

"You missed the fun," Gino quipped as Kallen's feet touched the concrete, waving with a grin.

"Trust me, we didn't," Kallen responded tartly, shaking her head and rolling her uninjured shoulder. "How are you, Empress?"

Nunnally let out a quiet giggle. "You're about the fiftieth person to ask me that in the past few hours, Kallen-san. I'm perfectly fine, thanks to the efforts of Cornelia-onee-sama and the foresight of my brother."

Most people would have assumed that to mean Schneizel, but Kallen knew at once who Nunnally was really thanking, and smiled along with her. They could never acknowledge Lelouch openly, but they could pay him quiet tribute in their own different ways.

"So how are things now?" Suzaku asked quietly, turning towards Ougi and Toudou.

"The diehard loyalists to Hideyoshi have been rounded up- he gathered those up in the government building, needing to secure the capitol before anything else, so thankfully they were all in one place and we didn't have to expend much energy capturing them. Cornelia is handling that right now as we speak, along with Guilford, Anya, and Sayoko. We've also recaptured the Shiroda forward base, and Captain Katsuragi Keima, commander of the secessionist forces at the base, has turned himself over to our custody," Ougi informed him quietly.

"I talked with him," Gino cut in solemnly, and all eyes turned towards him- the man was, after all, his former lieutenant. "I told him we could give him leniency, but he wouldn't hear it- he's asking to be dishonorably discharged at the least."

"He dishonored himself. He wants to at least have an end befitting that," Toudou rumbled.

"Still… he's a good kid. I don't want him to be paying for this for a long time," Gino muttered, scratching the back of his head. "People will be staying away from anyone who allied themselves with Hideyoshi now though, for fear of repercussions or being seen as sympathizers."

"I could use a new assistant," Ougi interjected thoughtfully. "If you think he won't mind."

Gino shot him a grateful look. "No, I don't think he will."

"Well, if that's all settled, I'm starving! I feel like I haven't had a good meal in years!" Lloyd suddenly called out, startling everyone as he descended from the plane, waving his arm energetically until Cecile appeared behind him like a ghost, wearing a terrifying smile.

"Lloyd-san, don't you think that was a bit rude to the Empress and the others?" she said sweetly, but there was an undefinable quality in her voice that was simply… scary.

Nina descended the plane last behind them, waving shyly at Nunnally, who gave her a warm smile in return.

"Lloyd-san has a point. It has been quite a trying few days," Nunnally said softly, glancing around the airstrip at the others assembled before her, giving them each a warm, grateful smile. "All of you, get some rest. That's an imperial decree."

There were chuckles, but Nunnally remained undeterred. "I was serious."

Everyone blinked.

"That's… quite a use of your executive power, Empress," Jeremiah coughed.

"A day of peace is something this world, and all of us, deserve. The work can wait, just for a few hours anyway," Nunnally responded. "Let's just enjoy being alive and in this bright new world, shall we?"

And to that, everyone could only agree.

"Zero, please take me home," Nunnally requested softly, glancing towards him. "I'm feeling nostalgic."

"Home, Empress?" Suzaku blinked. The Empress had no residence in Tokyo, as far as he knew.

"Do you think Ashford Academy still has my old room?" she said in lieu of an answer.

Suzaku felt the edges of a smile curling on his lips. "I think we know someone who can influence the school chairman, Empress."

Milly would be only too happy to oblige them, he was sure.

Nunnally turned towards the others and smiled again. "Thank you again. All of you. Your efforts have averted the greatest crisis we have faced thus far. I hope to count on all of you again in the future."

"Of course, Empress," Toudou said crisply, bowing.

"Though hopefully not for another ten years or so, at least," Gino joked.

"Hopefully not," Nunnally agreed, a hint of mirth dancing in her eyes. And with that, she bid them all farewell, and left with Zero.

"Home sounds like an excellent plan," Jeremiah added, after they had gone, and murmurs of agreement were heard, along with decision about where they would each go next. Eventually, they all separated, save for two.

"So we beat the bad guys and saved the world… now there's just one question I've got to ask. Kallen, what's with the turtle?" Gino asked, blinking, having just realized that the redhead had been carrying a small plastic carrier this whole time.

Kallen glanced down. Lelouch the turtle opened a single eye up at her, snapped its jaw, and then settled back down. "It's… a long story."

"A long story, huh? I've got time," Gino suggested, grinning.

Kallen flicked her gaze over at him, expression unreadable. _You wanted me to live on, right Lelouch? _

And heck, what was living without having a bit of a life anyway.

"Fine then. Let's get some coffee, I'm starving," she said briskly. "I'll tell you over breakfast."

"Did you just ask me on a date?" Gino blinked, before his face broke out into a goofy grin.

"_Friends_ get coffee together all the time, you know," Kallen reminded coolly, rolling her eyes, but her lips quirked into the barest hint of a smile.

"Right, right. Hey, can I see the turtle?"

"Careful, he bites."

"Don't worry, animals love me. I'm utterly loveable. I- YEOW!"

"I told you."

00000

"That was a helluva night!" Tamaki whooped, shaking his head as he took a deep swig of some expensive sake that he had liberated from Ougi's kitchen, to the disapproving glare of his wife. Since his bar had been all but destroyed, they, along with Minami, had retired to Ougi's private residence, which was large enough to accommodate them, and were currently occupying the dining room.

"It's a little early in the morning for sake, don't you think?" Viletta said disapprovingly, frowning at him as well as she bustled in with a few plates of food- nothing fancy, just something quick, considering they were all tired and too hungry to wait.

"It's a celebration of life!" Tamaki said in reply, grinning, pouring himself another generous helping of sake. "Too bad Toudou didn't join us! That guy's too stiff, wanting to go right back to work!"

"I'll raise my glass to celebrating life," Minami agreed, raising his cup of tea. "Though I'll refrain from any alcohol."

"Me too," Ougi agreed softly, holding a simple glass of water. They drank deeply, though Tamaki wobbled unsteadily as he set down the sake cup, and his wife Ayame gave him a reprimand in the form of a pinch.

"Don't drink so much," she sniffed. "You'll be a bad influence on our child."

"Child?" Tamaki's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he toppled out of his chair, barely being caught by his shocked wife in time.

"Did he just faint?" Viletta said slowly, trying to contain her amusement and failing miserably, as the twitching in her lips could attest.

"Well, here's another toast to new life- may this child never know war," Ougi murmured, smiling fondly as he raised his glass, which Minami knocked together lightly with his own.

"We'll make sure of that," Minami agreed.

They settled into a content silence for a few minutes, before Minami suddenly had a thought.

"Hey, you know, where was Kento during this whole thing?"

Ougi blinked, searching his memory for where the last original member of the Black Knights had been this entire time.

"Oh, it was his vacation this week. Bad timing, or good timing for him, I suppose," he chuckled.

00000

"We've fulfilled our final orders then, it seems," Sayoko observed quietly. They stood on the rooftop of the government building, having just finished packing the last of the prisoners from the battle into a convoy bound for a secure facility near Nara. Cornelia and Toudou would oversee their delivery, and had given them leave to rest.

"Lelouch's plan was a little nuts," Anya muttered, quietly leaning against the railing of the rooftop.

"Lelouch-sama's sacrifice remains secure, and that is all that matters," Jeremiah said in lieu of a reply, gripping the railing as he stood next to Anya, a content smile on his face. "We did not fail him."

"So what shall we do now, hmm? We no longer have orders from our master to consider," Sayoko murmured.

"He wasn't my master," Anya interjected, wrinkling her nose, though she smiled.

"The world will still need protecting from the shadows," Jeremiah reminded them both. "Geass may be gone, but there will be other threats. And if not… there's always the farm. Growing things has its own rewards."

"I do like oranges," Sayoko said lightly, smiling.

00000

"This feels right," Nunnally whispered softly, as Zero- _Suzaku,_ she corrected mentally- wheeled her into the Ashford Academy clubhouse, which had been hastily cleaned and cleared for the Empress' private use. "You know, I never actually saw this place with my own two eyes until today. It's more beautiful than I ever imagined."

Suzaku said nothing to that, merely taking in the sights as well. Though it had been years since he'd been part of the Student Council, anything he looked at could generate a private memory. The stairway where he would often sit with Lelouch and Rivalz and Shirley and try to puzzle out the homework with their help, or the television set that once hosted a 'Monster Movie Night' for the Council…

He blinked, throat suddenly tight. God, he missed those days.

"Come on," Nunnally's voice cut in over his thoughts, and she laid a soft hand atop his own. "I'd like to see nii-sama's old room."

They got a few steps into the hallway when suddenly a loud, cheerful voice broke through the quiet silence and a black haired blur practically launched itself at Nunnally. Suzaku was halfway into a fighting stance despite his battered body before he recognized the voice.

"Nunnally!" Kaguya practically smothered the other girl in an embrace, happily nuzzling the other girl's cheek fondly. "I'm so happy you're alive! I took the first flight out here the second I saw that broadcast!"

"I'm sorry for the deception, Kaguya-san," Nunnally whispered, hugging the other girl back fiercely. "And I'm sorry for worrying you."

"You'd better be!" the Chairwoman said mock sternly, pulling away and planting her tiny fists on her hips in what could be described as a lecturing pose. "Never worry your big sister like that!"

_Big sister? _Suzaku blinked, but shrugged after a moment. He'd known Kaguya all his life, and still he couldn't understand the girl.

"I won't do it again," Nunnally promised solemnly, though her eyes glimmered with amusement. After a moment, both women broke out into giggles that were unbecoming of world leaders but absolutely fitting for the young women they really were.

"Well, now that that's settled… you looked positively famished!" Kaguya observed, hand on her head as she shook it helplessly. "I suppose I'll have to find you two some food. I know! I'll make you some! Make yourselves comfortable, it'll only take a minute!"

And without waiting for a reply, she dashed off into the kitchen.

"… I hope she's gotten better than when she was a kid," Suzaku muttered, before realizing with a start what the implications of his statement were.

Nunnally smiled. "I already know, remember?"

Suzaku relaxed, but only by a fraction. "We should talk about this somewhere secure."

"My old room," Nunnally suggested, and the two of them headed down the hallway and into the room. She took a brief moment to take in the surroundings she had lived in for many years in total darkness, before returning her gaze to Zero.

"So how did you know?" Suzaku asked quietly, locking the door behind him.

"Take off the mask," Nunnally said in reply. After he did so, Nunnally sucked in a deep breath.

She'd never actually seen Suzaku's face as a child- she knew the shape and feel of his hands and face, but how it looked was something she'd only known in pictures and videos. This Suzaku, however, looked older than even the years could have allowed- the burden of Zero, she supposed sadly.

However, he still seemed… strong. More determined than she had ever seen this Zero look before, even at the start of her reign.

"Lloyd-san told me," she informed him, and he sighed exasperatedly.

"It's a wonder he kept it to himself this whole time," Suzaku muttered. "Does Cornelia know as well?"

"She suspects, I think, but she decided she didn't want to know your identity and left the room," Nunnally replied. "But I…I needed to know."

"Well, now you do," Suzaku murmured, and leaned against the wall, watching her with an unreadable expression. "So now you know everything."

"Yes," she acknowledged. "About you… about nii-sama… and the Zero Requiem."

Suzaku sucked in a breath quietly. He never wanted to have this conversation. "I'm sorry about…"

"You gave my brother peace. To do what he did… it had to have been killing him to play the monster," Nunnally interjected softly, shutting her eyes and glancing down at the locket around her neck, where the picture of Lelouch hung.

He relaxed as a tension he didn't even know he had leaving his body at her forgiveness. "Thank you."

"No, thank you… you stood by him, and now you've taken on the heavy burden of being Zero, the guardian of this new world. We all will shape the future, but you will guard it diligently, won't you?" Nunnally said, studying him with a careful look. "You've given up everything for this purpose. I… I envy your strength."

"It wasn't strength… not at first," Suzaku corrected, glancing down at the mask in his hands. "I took it on as my punishment. But now… now I think it was Lelouch's gift to me. He believed I could be something more… and I intend to live up to that expectation."

"We both will," Nunnally interjected, and they shared a smile. "We'll both build the world my brother dreamed of, with our own hands."

That was their promise, to the one who had sacrificed everything for them and the world.

00000

_ A picture perfect ending… really, too perfect,_ she thought to herself, wrinkling her nose in annoyance. _I can't believe how well it all worked out._

"You played a dangerous game," C.C. muttered out loud, reclining back onto one of the smoother pieces of rubble, hands planted on the sides. "One false move and it would all have been over. If a single action had gone out of place or one person had failed to act as you predicted, this whole scheme would have fallen apart."

She glanced at golden glow that effused throughout the false sky, permeating clouds. An eternal sunset, a twilight unending. She supposed there were worse reminders of her immortality. And besides, spending forever guarding humanity against darker powers did have a certain appeal to it, she supposed privately. At least it meant she wouldn't be bored, and she still had company.

Though she would never tell him that.

"But it didn't," came a smooth, cultured voice, followed by steps upon the stone platform, which seemed to suddenly appear as if out of thin air. "It went exactly according to plan."

"Exactly according to plan?" C.C. said skeptically, raising her eyebrow. She didn't turn back to look at the newcomer, but remained facing the sunset. She didn't need to look at him to know his face, after all.

"Well, it was cutting it a little close," he admitted, a contrite tone in his voice. "But in the end they pulled through, just as I hoped."

"You put a lot of faith in them," C.C. commented airily, leaning back, facing the sky, where the planet Jupiter hung overhead like a sleeping god.

All the gods were sleeping now… of course, time would only tell whether or not they would awaken again.

C.C. would wait eternity until they did.

"I trusted that they would not let me down," the figure responded defensively, now standing directly next to her.

"And if they had failed? If Suzaku and Kallen hadn't found the strength to overcome Marianne? If Nunnally hadn't been able to convince the tides of war to ebb away? If Toudou had decided to betray everyone?" C.C. questioned ruthlessly, arching her eyebrow critically as she turned towards him. "You gambled with a lot of lives. You even lied to Jeremiah and Sayoko, manipulating them into forming their little agency just so there would be a first line of defense, instead of just telling them how to solve this crisis."

"It was a necessary risk," he countered, sounding irritated now.

"For your little test?" C.C. asked coolly. "Even I have to say, this plan was your most reckless. If one thing had gone wrong-"

"It didn't," he stated flatly. "And why are you so insistent on pursuing this issue? If you had a problem with it, you could have told me so before, back when I was alive."

"Back then it was only one of many crazy little contingencies you came up with for after the Zero Requiem," C.C. answered, a heated rebuke in her voice as she replied. "You've always been a manipulator, but this was just wrong."

"You do know I'm just a memory, right?" he muttered frustratedly. "I'm not the man himself, but an echo, like the rest of the dead who reside in the world of C. If not for the leftovers of my Geass on the gods, I wouldn't even be strong enough to become corporeal- and even then, I could only do it because I was called here by your summons due to your position as a Code Bearer."

"You're all I've got to complain to," came the witch's response, tinged with an icy tone. "And if I find your little game offensive, can you blame me?"

He sighed, and planted himself down next to her, a resigned expression on his face that remained as it always had, unchanged from her memories. The World of C was the place of the dead, after all.

"No, I can't," he confessed tiredly. "Even though I'm a simulacrum of him, even I barely comprehend the logic of this scenario. To allow my mother to attack the world like this, to _let _it spin out of control where it could have been prevented years before…"

"You told me it would be a test of the world's resolve. That if the peace couldn't survive this test, then the Requiem had failed," C.C. recalled, shaking her head incredulously at the words she quoted from memory.

"It succeeded, however," he pointed out. "And everything proceeded as… I…" he hesitated over using the pronoun, "Envisioned. The leftover remnants of anger from the war, the true holdouts, were exposed, and crushed. The world tasted war again, and remembered how bitter it truly is. It was small, but the scare was enough to stir up true resolve- not just fear of me, a fear that would inevitably fade, but a true determination to see the world change."

His voice gained strength and confidence, and C.C. was reminded that not only was he intelligent, he was insufferably arrogant about it sometimes.

"Suzaku has grown past his old guilts and demons- he's become what I dreamed Zero should be, a defender of the peace, a hero of justice. Nunnally has inherited my dream, and will build the world I envisioned. Even Kallen has been healed of the damage I did to her before I died, and I think I gave her some semblance of closure."

"How very perfect," she interjected drolly, an insincere smile on her face.

"It was." He smiled with a hint of self-satisfaction, ignoring the tease in her words. "All in all, I'd say the final act of the Zero Requiem was quite a master stroke. Genius, you could say."

C.C. shook her head, a resigned look on her face.

"You're so full of yourself, you know that?"

Lelouch smirked back and said nothing.

_The End_

Author's Notes

As I mentioned in a message to Tetsukon, this story was originally born from watching Red vs Blue: Reconstruction (and if you haven't seen Red vs Blue… watch it), and the opening sequence is a homage to the first chapter of Reconstruction. I had several different ideas that came together here- the first was "Something Lelouch did comes back to bite everybody in the ass", the second "How would the world cope without Lelouch to handle a crisis", the third "What about Brittania and Japan's previous tensions", and the last being "Lelouch left a plan for everyone after his death a la the Seldon Plan". That last one I considered developing into a series where new crises appeared and Lelouch had left specific instructions at each turn, but that just stopped working for me after a certain point because it would become a deus ex machina that the readers would expect and I'd basically be rewriting Asimov's work.

This was not a Gino/Kallen end, for those who might want to bite my head off. I simply wanted Kallen to live a little, that's all. Interpret the end as you will. I threw in that bit about Sugiyama Kento because a reviewer pointed out that I completely missed him and I hate leaving plot holes, so even if it's a half-assed way to do it, I answered that problem and I can sleep a little easier (plot holes bug me that much, yes).

And yes, everything that happened in this story was "just as planned" by Lelouch. He believed enough in his friends to let them face this threat with only minimal interference on his part. Is the morality of it justified? Eh, that's not my place to say. You decide. But, in my opinion, this does make Lelouch the technical "antagonist" of the story. So… yeah, the initial allusion to Lelouch being the villain is actually true. I like it when red herrings turn out to be true.

Thanks for following me this whole way guys. It's been a fun trip for me, and I hope it was the same for you. I don't think I'll ever make a sequel to this, though a side story or two is not out of the question, especially expounding on the adventures of Lelouch the Turtle.


End file.
